title: Herbal medicine Guan Chang Fu Fang enhances 5-fluorouracil cytotoxicity and affects drug-associated genes in human colorectal carcinoma cells.
abstract: Guan Chang Fu Fang (GCFF) is a natural compound, which is extracted from three medicinal plants,Agrimonia pilosaLedeb., Patrinia scabiosaefoliaandSolanum nigrumL.GCFF has demonstrated clinical efficacy in the treatment of colon cancer. At present, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is the primary active chemotherapeutic agent used for treating colon cancer. Using median-effect and apoptosis analyses, fluorescence microscopy and western blotting, the present study analyzed the association between GCFF and 5-FU in the human colon adenocarcinoma LoVo cell line. The effect of GCFF on the expression of chemotherapeutic agent-associated genes was also investigated. The results of the synergistic analysis revealed that GCFF exhibited a significant effect upon 5-FU-associated cytotoxicity within the LoVo cell line. This effect was observed over a broad dose-inhibition range (5-95%), but was particularly significant in the lower concentrations. The flow cytometry results revealed that low doses of GCFF or 5-FU induced S-phase arrest, as did a low-dose combination of the two drugs. After 48 h, GCFF significantly suppressed the expression levels of the chemotherapeutic agent resistance-associated genes within the colon cancer cells. The western blot analysis revealed that the combined effects of 5-FU and GCFF were due to a regulation of the B-cell lymphoma-2 family of proteins. The findings of the present study suggested that GCFF, when combined with 5-FU, has the potential to be a novel, chemotherapeutic compound for the treatment of colon cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, The Affiliated Jiangsu Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University and Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210009, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Senior Expert Consultation Center, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shen-Lin
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ming-Hao
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Experimental Center, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrocardiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: Guan Chang Fu Fang; apoptosis; colon cancer cell; synergy