Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China; The Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
Biomed Pharmacother. 2018 Jun;102:420-427. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2018.03.099. Epub 2018 Mar 22.
The NF-κB/IL-6/STAT3 inflammatory axis is highly activated in a variety of inflammation-related cancers and contributes to suppression of antitumor immunity. In this study, we generated a novel herbal formula NHE-06, a water-decocting extract from six natural herbals, Ficus carica, Taraxacum mongolicum, Angelica sinensis, Lonicera japonica, Pseudo-ginseng and Folium ginkgo. We investigated the anti-inflammatory properties of NHE-06 and its antitumor efficacy in hepatocellular carcinoma, a typical inflammation-related cancer. We found that NHE-06 effectively suppressed NF-κB/IL-6/STAT3 signaling and enhanced antitumor immunity both in vitro and in HCC-bearing mice. In a subcutaneous HCC mouse model, we found that NHE-06 possessed both preventive and therapeutic functions. Moreover, rather than the cytotoxic effects, the antitumor efficacy of NHE-06 was indispensable of intact immunity, since the therapeutic effect was only achieved in immunocompetent mice whereas failed in immunocompromised mice. Taken together, the novel formula of the anti-inflammatory NHE-06 effectively restores antitumor immunosurveillance and can be applied for prevention and/or treatment of inflammation-related cancers.
NF-κB/IL-6/STAT3 炎症轴在多种与炎症相关的癌症中高度激活，并有助于抑制抗肿瘤免疫。在这项研究中，我们生成了一种新型草药配方 NHE-06，这是一种从六种天然草药（包括无花果、蒲公英、当归、金银花、人参和银杏叶）中提取的水提取物。我们研究了 NHE-06 的抗炎特性及其在肝癌中的抗肿瘤功效，肝癌是一种典型的与炎症相关的癌症。我们发现，NHE-06 可有效抑制 NF-κB/IL-6/STAT3 信号通路，并在体外和荷肝癌小鼠中增强抗肿瘤免疫。在皮下肝癌小鼠模型中，我们发现 NHE-06 具有预防和治疗双重功能。此外，NHE-06 的抗肿瘤功效不是依赖细胞毒性作用，而是依赖完整的免疫功能，因为该治疗效果仅在免疫功能正常的小鼠中实现，而在免疫功能受损的小鼠中则失败。综上所述，新型抗炎 NHE-06 配方可有效恢复抗肿瘤免疫监视，并可用于预防和/或治疗与炎症相关的癌症。
