ABSTRACT
Antitumor and antimetastatic activities of fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide isolated from Fucus evanescens (brown alga in Okhotsk sea), was studied in C57Bl/6 mice with transplanted Lewis lung adenocarcinoma. Fucoidan after single and repeated administration in a dose of 10 mg/kg produced moderate antitumor and antimetastatic effects and potentiated the antimetastatic, but not antitumor activities of cyclophosphamide. Fucoidan in a dose of 25 mg/kg potentiated the toxic effect of cyclophosphamide.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic/therapeutic use , Neoplasm Metastasis/drug therapy , Polysaccharides/therapeutic use , Animals , Cathepsin B/metabolism , Cathepsin D/metabolism , Cathepsin L , Cathepsins/metabolism , Cyclophosphamide/therapeutic use , Cysteine Endopeptidases/metabolism , Drug Synergism , Fucus/chemistry , Lung Neoplasms/secondary , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Neoplasm Transplantation , Neoplasms, Experimental/enzymology , Sulfuric Acid Esters/therapeutic useABSTRACT
We measured plasma cystatin C concentration and activity of cathepsins B and L in tumor tissue as possible markers for the efficiency of antitumor therapy and prognostic criteria for Lewis lung adenocarcinoma in mice. Plasma cystatin C concentration markedly decreased in mice with tumors. During successive therapy the increase in plasma cystatin C concentration correlated with the degree of inhibition of tumor growth. Activities of cathepsins B and L in the liver increased in animals with tumors. In mice receiving successive antitumor therapy activities of cathepsins B and L increased in tumor tissue, but decreased in the liver (compared to untreated animals).
