title: Inhibitory effect of Cordyceps sinensis on spontaneous liver metastasis of Lewis lung carcinoma and B16 melanoma cells in syngeneic mice.
abstract: We investigated the effect of the water extract of Cordyceps sinensis (WECS) on liver metastasis of Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) and B16 melanoma (B16) cells in mice. C57BL/6 mice were given a s.c. injection of LLC and B16 cells and sacrificed 20 and 26 days after tumor inoculation, respectively. WECS was daily administered p.o. to the mice in a dose of 100 mg/kg body weight (wt.) in the experiment of LLC and in a dose of 100 or 200 mg/kg body wt. in the experiment of B16 from one week before tumor inoculation to one day before the date of sacrifice. The tumor cells increased in the thigh in LLC-inoculated mice and in the footpad in B16-inoculated mice. The relative liver wt. of the tumor-inoculated mice significantly increased as compared to that of the normal mice due to the tumor metastasis, as verified by the hematoxylin-eosin staining pathological study in the LLC experiment. The relative liver wt. of the WECS-administered mice significantly decreased relative to that of the control mice in both the LLC and B16 experiments. WECS showed a strong cytotoxicity against LLC and B16 cells, while cordycepin (3'-deoxyadenosine), an active component of WECS, was not cytotoxic against these cells. These findings suggest that WECS has an anti-metastatic activity that is probably due to components other than cordycepin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mukogawa Women's University, Nishinomiya, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kagota
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shinozuka
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kunitomo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D018827:Carcinoma, Lewis Lung / Q000556:secondary*; D002452:Cell Count; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006999:Hypocreales / Q000737:chemistry*; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D008114:Liver Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D008546:Melanoma, Experimental / Q000556:secondary*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal