Dihydroartemisinin improves the efficiency of chemotherapeutics in lung carcinomas in vivo and inhibits murine Lewis lung carcinoma cell line growth in vitro.

forrás: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19756601

2014-03-11 13:38:18

PURPOSE:

Dihydroartemisinin (DHA), a semi-synthetic derivative of artemisinin, has exhibited thestrongest antimalarial activity among the derivatives of artemisinin. There is growingevidence that DHA has some impact against tumors. Our purpose was to evaluate in vitro antitumoral properties of DHA in the murine Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cell line. At thesame time, we observed the therapeutic effect of DHA combined with cyclophosphamide(CTX) in the LLC and combined with cisplatin (CDDP) in the human non-small cell lung cancer A549 xenotransplanted carcinoma in vivo.

METHODS:

Cytotoxicity was measured by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromidemethod, apoptosis was measured by AO/EB double staining and flow cytometry. Theexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor KDR/flk-1 was analyzed by western blotting and RT-PCR. In vivo activity of DHA combined with CTX or CDDP wasassayed through tumor growth and metastasis.

RESULTS:

Dihydroartemisinin exhibited high anti-cancer activity in LLC cell line. DHA also inducedapoptosis of LLC cells and influenced the expression of VEGF receptor KDR/flk-1.Furthermore, in both tumor xenografts, a greater degree of growth inhibition was achieved when DHA and chemotherapeutics were used in combination. The affection by DHA combined CTX on LLC tumor metastasis was significant.

CONCLUSIONS:

Dihydroartemisinin is a potent compound against LLC cell line in vitro. In vivo, thecombination strategy of DHA and chemotherapeutics holds promise for the treatment ofrelatively large and rapidly growing lung cancers.