The chinese herbal medicine Tien-Hsien liquid inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis in a wide variety of human cancer cells.
OBJECTIVE
Tien-Hsien liquid (THL) is a commercially available Chinese herbal mixture that has been used as an anticancer dietary supplement for more than 10 years. We recently showed that THL has strong immunomodulatory effects on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and T cells. To investigate the antitumor activity of THL further, we sought to test whether THL could induce apoptosis in various human cancer cell lines based on the fact that THL contains several components with tumor killing functions.


METHODS
The growth inhibitory effect of THL on human cervical carcinoma C-33A cells, human lung carcinoma H1299 cells, and human PBMC was assessed by counting viable cells using the trypan blue dye exclusion method. The apoptosis-inducing activity of THL in H1299 cells was assessed by analyzing the cells with four assays: (1) Hoechst 33258 nuclear DNA staining; (2) the terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay; (3) the nucleosomal DNA fragment ladder assay; and (4) the sub-G1 cell analysis. The activities of caspase-8, -9, and -3 in H1299 cells treated with or without THL were also measured to elucidate the possible mechanism underlying THL apoptosis-inducing effect. Finally, the apoptotic effect of THL on fifteen human cancer cell lines and normal human cells were analyzed by the TUNEL assay.


RESULTS
THL could induce apoptosis in all human cancer cell lines tested but not in normal human cells. THL treatment of H1299 cancer cells resulted in activation of caspase-8, -9, and -3 and the inhibitors of these caspases could partially block THL-induced apoptosis.


CONCLUSIONS
THL has been used by numerous patients with cancer for many years with no known adverse effect. Our present study showing that THL had a broad-range tumor killing function has provided a molecular basis underlying THL therapeutic activity. Furthermore, because THL had apoptotic effects only on cancer cells but not on normal cells, this selectivity suggests that THL could be a potential cancer therapeutic agent.
Sun
Andy
A
School of Dentistry, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Chia
Jean-San
JS
Chiang
Chun-Pin
CP
Hsuen
Shu-Ping
SP
Du
Jia-Ling
JL
Wu
Chia-Wei
CW
Wang
Won-Bo
WB
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; C492794:tien-hsien liquid