Han Mengfei, Yang Geliang, Lin Qing, Yang Yanlong, Zhang Huiqing, Su Yonghua
Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China.
Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, The Second Medical Centre, Chinese People Liberation Army General Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases, Beijing, China.
Front Oncol. 2020 Jan 23;9:1572. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2019.01572. eCollection 2019.
Bufalin is a cardiotonic steroid and a key active ingredient of the Chinese medicine . It has significant anti-tumor activity against many malignancies, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Previous studies have shown that human bodies contain an endogenous bufalin-like substance. This study aimed to confirm whether the endogenous bufalin-like substances is bufalin and further detect the differences between HCC and control groups of endogenous bufalin concentration by the high-performance liquid chromatography coupled tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The results confirmed the endogenous bufalin-like substance is bufalin. Totally, 227 serum samples were collected: 54 from HCC patients and 173 from healthy volunteers constituting a control group. Both the test group and the control group contained bufalin in serum, revealing that bufalin is indeed an endogenous substance. The bufalin concentration was 1.3 nM in HCC patients and 5.7 nM in normal people ( < 0.0001). These results indicate that human bodies contain endogenous bufalin, and it may be negatively correlated with the incidence of HCC.
蟾毒灵是一种强心甾体，也是中药的关键活性成分。它对包括肝细胞癌（HCC）在内的多种恶性肿瘤具有显著的抗肿瘤活性。先前的研究表明，人体含有一种内源性蟾毒灵样物质。本研究旨在通过高效液相色谱-串联质谱法（HPLC-MS/MS）确认内源性蟾毒灵样物质是否为蟾毒灵，并进一步检测肝癌组和对照组内源性蟾毒灵浓度的差异。结果证实内源性蟾毒灵样物质为蟾毒灵。共收集了227份血清样本：54份来自肝癌患者，173份来自健康志愿者作为对照组。试验组和对照组血清中均含有蟾毒灵，表明蟾毒灵确实是一种内源性物质。肝癌患者的蟾毒灵浓度为1.3 nM，正常人的浓度为5.7 nM（<0.0001）。这些结果表明人体含有内源性蟾毒灵，且它可能与肝癌的发病率呈负相关。
