ScienceDaily (Sep. 29, 2008) — Gecko is a Chinese traditional medicine. It has definite effect on malignant tumor, especially on digestive system tumor. The incidence and mortality of tumor keep ascending all over the world. However, there was no study on the pharmacological studies of Gecko and its mechanisms of anti-tumor action remained unclear.

Now a research group in China has found that Gecko powder can inhibit EC9706 and EC1 growth and proliferation.

Gecko can also decrease vascular endothelin growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor expression in tumor tissue and induce tumor cell apoptosis.

As is known, the effect on anti-tumor of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is related to more pathways and more targets. Most studies on action mechanisms of TCM in anti-tumor showed that TCM could inhibit tumors though supporting the healthy energy and strengthening the body resistance.

The research team, led by Prof. Wang from Henan University of China, showed that Gecko could not only reinforce immunity of organism but also induction of tumor cell apoptosis and the down-regulation of protein expression of VEGF and bFGF.

Chemotherapy, one of the major methods to treat cancer in Western medicine at present, has a poor selectivity and strong toxic and side effects, thus influencing its anticancer effect. In the past 40 years, Chinese experts have gained remarkable achievements in cancer treatment by integrating TCM with chemotherapy. This article gives us pharmacological studies of Gecko about antitumor and thus may provide foundation for its effective constituent.

1. Liu et al. Antitumor effect and mechanism of Gecko on human esophageal carcinoma cell lines in vitro and xenografted sarcoma 180 in Kunming mice. World Journal of Gastroenterology, 2008; 14 (25): 3990 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.14.3990

ScienceDaily (Dec. 31, 2008) — Medicinal plants have been used as traditional remedies for hundreds of years. Among them, S. barbata has been traditionally used in treatment of hepatitis, inflammation, osteomyelitis and gynecological diseases in China. Studies indicate that extracts from S. barbata have growth inhibitory effects on a number of human cancers. Reports are available on the treatment of lung, breast and digestive system cancer, hepatoma, and chorioepithelioma with S. barbata extracts.

However, the underlying mechanism of the antitumor activity of S. barbata extracts remains unclear.

A research team led by Dr. Zhi-Jun Dai from the Medical School of Xi’an Jiaotong University studied the growth inhibitory effects of S. barbata and determined its mechanism of antitumor activity in mouse liver cancer cell line H22.

They found that ESB could inhibit the proliferation of H22 cell in a time dependent manner. Among the various phases of cell cycle, the percentage of cells in S phase was significantly decreased, while the percentage of cells in G1 phase was increased. Flow cytometry assay also showed ESB had positive effect on apoptosis. Typical apoptotic morphology such as condensation and fragmentation of nuclei and blebbing membrane of the apoptotic cells could be observed through transmission electron microscope and fluorescence microscope. Further investigating the molecular mechanism behind ESB-induced apoptosis, cells treated with ESB underwent a rapid loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential(delta psi m), release of mitochondrial cytochrome c into cytosol, induction of caspase-3 activity in a dose-dependent manner. This may offer new evidence for S. barbata in the treatment of hepatoma in clinical practice.

1. Dai ZJ, Wang XJ, Li ZF, Ji ZZ, Ren HT, Tang W, Liu XX, Kang HF, Guan HT, Song LQ. Scutellaria barbate extract induces apoptosis of hepatoma H22 cells via the mitochondrial pathway involving caspase-3. World J Gastroenterol, 14(48): 7321-7328

ScienceDaily (Oct. 18, 2009) — A series of studies have demonstrated that Chrysanthemum indicum possesses antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, immunomodulatory, and neuroprotective effects. Recently, much attention has been devoted to the anticancer activity of Chrysanthemum indicum, especially in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its anticancer mechanism of action is still not clear and needs further investigation.

A research article to be published on September 28, 2009 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The research team, led by Prof. Zong-fang Li from the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi’an Jiaotong University, investigated the effects of Chrysanthemum indicum extract (CIE) on inhibition of proliferation and on apoptosis, and the underlying mechanisms, in a human HCC MHCC97H cell line.

They examined viable rat hepatocytes and human endothelial ECV304 cells by trypan blue exclusion and MTT assay, respectively, as normal controls. The proliferation of MHCC97H cells was determined by MTT assay. The cellular morphology of MHCC97H cells was observed by phase contrast microscopy. Flow cytometry was performed to analyze cell apoptosis with annexin V/propidium iodide (PI), mitochondrial membrane potential with rhodamine 123 and cell cycle with PI in MHCC97H cells. Apoptotic proteins such as cytochrome C, caspase-9, caspase-3 and cell cycle proteins, including P21 and CDK4, were measured by Western blotting.

The results showed CIE inhibited proliferation of MHCC97H cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner without cytotoxicity in rat hepatocytes and human endothelial cells. CIE induced apoptosis of MHCC97H cells in a concentration-dependent manner, as determined by flow cytometry. The apoptosis was accompanied by a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential, release of cytochrome C and activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3. CIE arrested the cell cycle in the S phase by increasing P21 and decreasing CDK4 protein expression.

The researchers drew a conclusion that CIE exerted a significant apoptotic effect through a mitochondrial pathway and arrested the cell cycle by regulation of cell cycle-related proteins in MHCC97H cells without an effect on normal cells. The cancer-specific selectivity shown in their study suggests that the plant extract could be a promising novel treatment for human cancer.

1. Li ZF, Wang ZD, Ji YY, Zhang S, Huang C, Li J, Xia XM. Induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in human HCC MHCC97H cells with Chrysanthemum indicum extract. World Journal of Gastroenterology, 2009; 15 (36): 4538 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.15.4538