The Chinese medicine JC-001 enhances the chemosensitivity of Lewis lung tumors to cisplatin by modulating the immune response

• Published in: BMC complementary and alternative medicine Vol. 17; no. 1; p. 210
• Main Authors: Chuang, Meng-Hsien, Jan, Ming-Shiou, Chang, Jinghua Tsai, Lu, Fung-Jou
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central 11.04.2017; BMC
• Subjects: adjuvants; Animals; Anticancer properties; antineoplastic activity; Antineoplastic Agents - administration & dosage; Antitumor agents; Apoptosis - drug effects; Biocompatibility; Carcinoma, Lewis Lung - drug therapy; Carcinoma, Lewis Lung - genetics; Carcinoma, Lewis Lung - metabolism; Carcinoma, Lewis Lung - physiopathology; CDDP; Cell Line, Tumor; Chemosensitivity; Chemotherapy; Cisplatin; Cisplatin - administration & dosage; complement; cytokines; Cytotoxicity; drug therapy; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - administration & dosage; eosin; Female; Humans; Immune; Immune response; Immune system; Immunity; Immunodeficiency; Immunohistochemistry; Immunomodulation; In vitro methods and tests; Interferon; Interferon-gamma - genetics; Interferon-gamma - immunology; Lung cancer; Lung carcinoma; lung neoplasms; Lung Neoplasms - drug therapy; Lung Neoplasms - genetics; Lung Neoplasms - immunology; Lung Neoplasms - physiopathology; lungs; Lymphocytes T; Male; Medical prognosis; Medicine; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Nude; Oriental traditional medicine; Pancreatic cancer; Rejection; Rodents; Staining; Stem cells; Therapeutic applications; Toxicity; Tumors; Viability; Xenografts; xenotransplantation; γ-Interferon; United States > US; Chemosensitivity; CDDP; Immune; Lung cancer
• ISSN: 1472-6882; 1472-6882
• DOI: 10.1186/s12906-017-1728-x

JC-001 is a Chinese medicine that can modulate the immunity in Hepa 1-6 tumor-bearing mice, and we questioned whether JC-001 can serve as efficient adjuvant chemotherapy. We aimed to identify a novel approach for enhancing cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) (CDDP)-based chemotherapy by immunomodulation. The anti-tumor activity in vitro was determined based on foci formation and a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. A LLC1 tumor xenograft model was used to analyze the activity of tumor rejection in vivo. The tumors were analyzed through hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining and cytokine arrays. JC-001 suppressed foci formation and reduced the viability of Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC1) cells in vitro. JC-001 suppressed LLC1 tumor growth in immunodeficient BALB/c nude mice and in immunocompetent C57BL/6 mice to an even greater extent. Furthermore, JC-001 up-regulated interferon-γ expression in the tumor microenvironment, enhanced the Th1 response in tumor-bearing mice, and increased the chemosensitivity of LLC1 tumors to CDDP chemotherapy. The results of our study suggest that JC-001 is associated with low cytotoxicity and can significantly suppress tumor growth by enhancing the Th1 response. JC-001 is a Chinese medicine with potential clinical applications in CDDP-based chemotherapeutic regimens.