Combined therapy using bevacizumab and turmeric ethanolic extract (with absorbable curcumin) exhibited beneficial efficacy in colon cancer mice.

Turmeric is commonly used as a medicinal herb and dietary supplement. Its active ingredient, curcumin, has been shown to possess antitumor effects in colorectal cancer patients. However, poor absorption of curcumin in intestine impedes its wide clinical application. Our previous findings showed that the presence of turmerones increased the accumulation of curcumin inside colonic cells. Hence, we hypothesized that curcumin with turmerones or present in turmeric ethanolic extract would augment its anti-tumor activities in tumor-bearing mice. The pharmacokinetics of curcumin in different preparations (containing same amount of curcumin) were studied in mice. The anti-tumor efficacies of curcumin or turmeric extract (with absorbable curcumin) in combination with bevacizumab were further investigated in HT29 colon tumor-bearing mice. Pharmacokinetic results showed that the plasma curcumin level of turmeric extract-fed mice was the highest, suggesting turmeric extract had the best bioavailability of curcumin. Besides, combined turmeric extract plus bevacizumab treatment significantly inhibited the tumor growth. Such inhibitory effects were stronger than those of curcumin plus bevacizumab or bevacizumab alone and were comparable with those of 5-fluorouracil+leucovorin+oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) plus bevacizumab. Notably, there was no observable side effect induced by turmeric extract treatment while significant side effects were found in FOLFOX-treated mice. In conclusion, combination of turmeric extract with bevacizumab possessed potent anti-tumor effects without observable side effects, strongly suggesting the adjuvant use of turmeric extract in colorectal cancer therapy. Our current findings warrant the confirmation regarding the benefits arising from the combined use of bevacizumab and turmeric in colorectal cancer patients in the near future.

Potent airway smooth muscle relaxant effect of cynatratoside B, a steroidal glycoside isolated from Cynanchum stauntonii.

The dried roots of Cynanchum stauntonii in having cough-relieving efficacy are commonly included in traditional antitussive formulas. The active components in a C. stauntonii root extract responsible for airway relaxation were isolated using an ex vivo bioassay-guided fractionation method, in which subfractions were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on the contraction of isolated rat tracheal rings by isometric tension measurements. A steroidal glycoside, cynatratoside B (1), identified by LC-MS and NMR spectroscopic analysis, was shown to have potent inhibition on acetylcholine- and carbachol-induced tracheal contractions. The present data provide scientific evidence to support the traditional use of C. stauntonii as an antitussive herbal medicine.

Screening and analysis of potential anti-tumor components from the stipe of Ganoderma sinense using high-performance liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry with multivariate statistical tool.

According to Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2015 edition, Ganoderma (Lingzhi) is a species complex that comprise of Ganoderma lucidum and Ganoderma sinense. The bioactivity and chemical composition of G. lucidium had been studied extensively, and it was shown to possess antitumor activities in pharmacological studies. In contrast, G. sinense has not been studied in great detail. Our previous studies found that the stipe of G. sinense exhibited more potent antitumor activity than the pileus. To identify the antitumor compounds in the stipe of G. sinense, we studied its chemical components by merging the bioactivity results with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based chemometrics. The stipe of G. sinense was extracted with water, followed by ethanol precipitation and liquid-liquid partition. The resulting residue was fractionated using column chromatography. The antitumor activity of these fractions were analysed using MTT assay in murine breast tumor 4T1 cells, and their chemical components were studied using the LC-QTOF-MS with multivariate statistical tools. The chemometric and MS/MS analysis correlated bioactivity with five known cytotoxic compounds, 4-hyroxyphenylacetate, 9-oxo-(10E,12E)-octadecadienoic acid, 3-phenyl-2-propenoic acid, 13-oxo-(9E,11E)-octadecadienoic acid and lingzhine C, from the stipe of G. sinense. To the best of our knowledge, 4-hyroxyphenylacetate, 3-phenyl-2-propenoic acid and lingzhine C are firstly reported to be found in G. sinense. These five compounds will be investigated for their antitumor activities in the future.

Andrographis paniculata elicits anti-invasion activities by suppressing TM4SF3 gene expression and by anoikis-sensitization in esophageal cancer cells.

Esophageal cancer is the sixth most common cancer in male causing death worldwide. It is usually diagnosed at advanced stage with high postoperative recurrence and systemic metastasis, which leads to poor prognosis. The potential inhibitory effect of herbal medicines on metastasis of esophageal cancer has drawn researchers' great attention. In the present study, the anti-invasion activities of Andrographis paniculata (AP) have been evaluated in two esophageal cancer cell lines, EC-109 and KYSE-520, as well as human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1). The anti-tumor and anti-metastatic activities of AP were also evaluated in human esophageal xenograft-bearing mouse models. Our results demonstrated for the first time that aqueous extract of AP inhibited the motility and invasion of esophageal cancer cells, which is the initial step of metastasis, without cytotoxicity. Anoikis resistance has also been reversed in AP-treated cancer cells. Besides, the expression of metastasis-related gene TM4SF3 in EC-109 cells was significantly decreased in AP extract-treated cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, the anti-tumor and anti-metastatic efficacies in subcutaneous and intraperitoneal esophageal xenograft-bearing mice were demonstrated after oral administration of AP aqueous extract for 3 weeks. Last but not least, the active component, isoandrographolide, responsible for the anti-migratory activity was firstly revealed here. In conclusion, the AP aqueous extract exerted inhibitory activities on the migration and anoikis resistance of esophageal cancer cells EC-109 and KYSE-520, as well as suppressed the proliferation and motility of endothelial cells. Combining the mentioned effects may account for the anti-tumor and anti-metastasis effects of AP aqueous extract in xenograft-bearing mice. The findings in the present study further enhance the understanding of the therapeutic mechanisms of the herb AP, which may lead to clinical applications.

Cooperative AND ion-pair recognition by heteroditopic calix[4]diquinone receptors.

A new family of heteroditopic calix[4]diquinone receptors capable of the cooperative recognition of ion-pair species through a contact binding mechanism has been developed. The receptors bind contact ion pairs cooperatively, with an unprecedented AND recognition phenomenon being observed to operate in certain cases, in which receptors display no affinity for either of the individual "free" cation or anion, but bind the cation and anion ion-pair strongly. X-ray crystallographic, solution-state, and computational methods rationalize the observed recognition behavior of the receptors. It is shown that the contact ion-pair interaction occurs through a pi-stacking-mediated folding of the receptors such that the anion and cation binding sites are arranged in close proximity, while in the solid state an unusual ion-mediated receptor dimerization is observed. Molecular dynamics simulations are further used to explain the observed trends in the association constants of different ion-pair species and the mechanism of interaction.