Chung Vinh Q, Tattersall Martin, Cheung H T Andrew
Harvard Medical School, Unit 105, 111 Gainsborough, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2004 May;53(5):384-90. doi: 10.1007/s00280-003-0746-1. Epub 2004 Jan 17.
PC SPES is an eight-component herbal product marketed for the treatment of prostate cancer. The manufacturer of PC SPES claims that the herbal combination is a synergistic blend, but the purported synergy has never been tested. We examined the interaction in cell culture of these eight individual herbal components by the use of an isobologram.
US patent no. 5,665,393 (1997) for PC SPES was acquired, and each of the eight herbal components described was acquired, properly identified, and extracted by 95% ethanol. The extracts were tested for cytotoxicity to PC 3 human prostate cancer cells in culture by the MTT (3-[4,5-dimethythiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. Seven combinations of herbal extracts were made, varying in the proportion of the most cytotoxic herbal extract, that of Panax notoginseng. The interactions of P. notoginseng with the other seven herbs were evaluated through the use of an isobologram.
In all seven herbal combinations, P. notoginseng was found to be antagonistic with the other seven herbal components in the cytotoxicity assay ( P values: 0.09, 0.12, 0.12, 0.33, 0.45, 0.56, and 0.76).
The interaction between the most cytotoxic herbal component of a widely used herbal product and the other seven components was antagonistic. Herbal combinations are no different from traditional combination pharmacotherapy. If herbal combinations are able to achieve antagonism, then theoretically they can achieve synergism if combined properly.
PC SPES是一种用于治疗前列腺癌的八味草药产品。PC SPES的制造商宣称该草药组合具有协同作用，但这种所谓的协同作用从未经过测试。我们通过等效线图研究了这八种单一草药成分在细胞培养中的相互作用。
获取了PC SPES的美国专利5,665,393（1997年），并获取了所述的八种草药成分中的每一种，进行了正确鉴定，并用95%乙醇进行提取。通过MTT（3-[4,5-二甲基噻唑-2-基]-2,5-二苯基四氮唑溴盐）试验检测提取物对培养的PC 3人前列腺癌细胞的细胞毒性。制备了七种草药提取物组合，其中细胞毒性最强的草药提取物三七的比例各不相同。通过等效线图评估三七与其他七种草药的相互作用。
在所有七种草药组合中，在细胞毒性试验中发现三七与其他七种草药成分具有拮抗作用（P值分别为：0.09、0.12、0.12、0.33、0.45、0.56和0.76）。
一种广泛使用的草药产品中细胞毒性最强的草药成分与其他七种成分之间的相互作用是拮抗的。草药组合与传统联合药物治疗并无不同。如果草药组合能够产生拮抗作用，那么理论上如果组合得当它们也能够产生协同作用。
