title: Curcumin Enhances the Effects of 5-Fluorouracil and Oxaliplatin in Inducing Gastric Cancer Cell Apoptosis Both In Vitro and In Vivo.
abstract: Despite the efficacy of fluoropyrimidines and oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy for patients, this treatment leads to significant patient inconvenience, toxicity, and cost. This study aims to validate a nontoxic agent, curcumin, to the current chemotherapeutic regimen. In in vitro experiments, curcumin induced apoptosis in gastric cancer cell line BGC-823. Synergistic antitumor effects of curcumin were observed in combination with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and oxaliplatin. These effects were accompanied by downregulation of the expression of Bcl-2 protein and mRNA and upregulation of the expression of Bax and caspase 3, 8, and 9. In addition, the in vivo study showed that the combination of curcumin and 5-FU/oxaliplatin exhibited potent growth inhibition of BGC-823 xenograft tumors. Furthermore, compared with the control group, no significant difference was observed in the body weight of curcumin-treated nude mice. In conclusion, curcumin may act synergistically with the chemotherapeutic regimen FOLFOX in gastric cancer in vitro and in vivo by inducing apoptosis via Bcl/Bax-caspase 8,9-caspase 3 pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Weiming
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Pihong
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Yangyang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: You
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D003474:Curcumin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004357:Drug Synergism; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009944:Organoplatinum Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000077150:Oxaliplatin; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D023041:Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D009944:Organoplatinum Compounds; D000077150:Oxaliplatin; D003474:Curcumin; D005472:Fluorouracil