Department of Respiratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Juntendo University, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan ; Research Institute for Diseases of Old Age, School of Medicine, Juntendo University, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012;2012:976926. doi: 10.1155/2012/976926. Epub 2012 Dec 24.
Cachexia, a major cause of cancer-related death, is characterized by depletion of muscle and fat tissues, anorexia, asthenia, and hypoglycemia. Recent studies indicate that secretions of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) play a crucial role in cachexia development, and that these cytokines are secreted from not only cancer cells but also host cells such as macrophages. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of hochuekkito, a Kampo formula, on cachexia induced by colon 26 adenocarcinoma in mice. Hochuekkito treatment did not inhibit tumor growth, but significantly attenuated the reduction in carcass weight, food and water intake, weight of the gastrocnemius muscle and fat tissue around the testes, and decrease of serum triglyceride level compared with controls. Furthermore, hochuekkito treatment significantly reduced serum IL-6 level and IL-6 expression level in macrophages in tissues surrounding the tumor. In vitro studies showed that hochuekkito suppressed the production of IL-6 by THP-1 or RAW264.7 macrophage cells, although it did not affect IL-6 production by colon 26 carcinoma cells. These results suggest that hochuekkito inhibits the production of proinflammatory cytokines, particularly IL-6, by host cells such as macrophages. Therefore, hochuekkito may be a promising anticachectic agent for the treatment of patients with cancer.
恶病质是癌症相关死亡的主要原因，其特征是肌肉和脂肪组织减少、厌食、乏力和低血糖。最近的研究表明，促炎细胞因子（如白细胞介素-6（IL-6））的分泌在恶病质的发展中起着关键作用，这些细胞因子不仅由癌细胞分泌，也由宿主细胞如巨噬细胞分泌。在这项研究中，我们研究了高血康（一种汉方药）对结肠癌 26 腺癌诱导的恶病质小鼠的治疗效果。高血康治疗并没有抑制肿瘤生长，但与对照组相比，它显著减轻了体重减轻、食物和水摄入减少、比目鱼肌重量和睾丸周围脂肪组织减少以及血清甘油三酯水平降低。此外，高血康治疗还显著降低了肿瘤周围组织中巨噬细胞的血清 IL-6 水平和 IL-6 表达水平。体外研究表明，高血康抑制了 THP-1 或 RAW264.7 巨噬细胞细胞产生的 IL-6，尽管它不影响结肠癌 26 癌细胞产生 IL-6。这些结果表明，高血康抑制了宿主细胞（如巨噬细胞）产生的促炎细胞因子，特别是 IL-6。因此，高血康可能是治疗癌症患者恶病质的一种有前途的药物。
