TY - JOUR
T1 - Beneficial effect of cepharanthine on overcoming drug-resistance of hepatocellular carcinoma.
AU - Nakajima, Akio
AU - Yamamoto, Yuzo
AU - Taura, Kojiro
AU - Hata, Koichiro
AU - Fukumoto, Manabu
AU - Uchinami, Hiroshi
AU - Yonezawa, Kei
AU - Yamaoka, Yoshio
PY - 2004/3
Y1 - 2004/3
N2 - Despite improvement in liver surgery, patient prognoses after surgical resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unsatisfactory. One of the obstacles in managing post-operative recurrence is resistance to chemotherapy. We examined the effect of Cepharanthin (CEP), a natural alkaloid extracted from Stephania cepharantha Hayata, in overcoming P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-associated doxorubicine (DOX) resistance, using 2 DOX-resistant HCC cell lines, and their DOX-sensitive parental cell lines. P-gp expression in surgically removed HCC tumours was also examined. In the in vitro study, overexpression of P-gp in the resistant cells was confirmed by immunoblotting and RT-PCR. Drug sensitivity testing with MTT assay showed that co-administration of CEP significantly enhanced cytotoxicity of DOX, but only in resistant cells. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that CEP significantly increased intracellular DOX concentration by inhibiting DOX efflux. P-gp expression in 107 patients with HCC was examined retrospectively by immunohistochemistry. P-gp was overexpressed in the tumours of 36% of these patients, especially in well-differentiated tumours that are often insensitive to chemotherapy, supporting the use of P-gp modulation as a new chemotherapeutic approach. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that serum alpha-fetoprotein level was inversely related to P-gp expression. Our data suggest that co-administration of CEP with DOX may potentiate the effect of chemotherapy on drug-resistant HCC.
AB - Despite improvement in liver surgery, patient prognoses after surgical resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unsatisfactory. One of the obstacles in managing post-operative recurrence is resistance to chemotherapy. We examined the effect of Cepharanthin (CEP), a natural alkaloid extracted from Stephania cepharantha Hayata, in overcoming P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-associated doxorubicine (DOX) resistance, using 2 DOX-resistant HCC cell lines, and their DOX-sensitive parental cell lines. P-gp expression in surgically removed HCC tumours was also examined. In the in vitro study, overexpression of P-gp in the resistant cells was confirmed by immunoblotting and RT-PCR. Drug sensitivity testing with MTT assay showed that co-administration of CEP significantly enhanced cytotoxicity of DOX, but only in resistant cells. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that CEP significantly increased intracellular DOX concentration by inhibiting DOX efflux. P-gp expression in 107 patients with HCC was examined retrospectively by immunohistochemistry. P-gp was overexpressed in the tumours of 36% of these patients, especially in well-differentiated tumours that are often insensitive to chemotherapy, supporting the use of P-gp modulation as a new chemotherapeutic approach. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that serum alpha-fetoprotein level was inversely related to P-gp expression. Our data suggest that co-administration of CEP with DOX may potentiate the effect of chemotherapy on drug-resistant HCC.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=6044228068&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=6044228068&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 14767548
AN - SCOPUS:6044228068
VL - 24
SP - 635
EP - 645
JO - International Journal of Oncology
JF - International Journal of Oncology
SN - 1019-6439
IS - 3
ER -