The low bioavailability of most phytochemicals limits their translation to humans. We investigated whether arctigenin, a novel anti-inflammatory lignan from the seeds of Arctium lappa, has favorable bioavailability/potency against prostate cancer. The anticarcinogenic activity of arctigenin was investigated both in vitro using the androgen-sensitive LNCaP and LAPC-4 human prostate cancer cells and pre-malignant WPE1-NA22 cells, and in vivo using xenograft mouse models. Arctigenin at lower doses (< 2μM) significantly inhibited the proliferation of LNCaP and LAPC-4 cells by 30-50% at 48h compared to control, and inhibited WPE1-NA22 cells by 75%, while did not affect normal prostate epithelial cells. Male severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice were implanted subcutaneously with LAPC-4 cells for in vivo studies. In one experiment, the intervention started one week after tumor implantation. Mice received arctigenin at 50mg/kg (LD) or 100mg/kg (HD) b.w. daily or vehicle control by oral gavage. After 6 weeks, tumor growth was inhibited by 50% (LD) and 70% (HD) compared to control. A stronger tumor inhibitory effect was observed in a second experiment where arctigenin intervention started two weeks prior to tumor implantation. Arc was detectable in blood and tumors in Arc groups, with a mean value up to 2.0 μM in blood, and 8.3 nmol/g tissue in tumors. Tumor levels of proliferation marker Ki67, total and nuclear androgen receptor, and growth factors including VEGF, EGF, and FGF-β were significantly decreased by Arc, along with an increase in apoptosis marker of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Genes responsive to arctigenin were identified including TIMP3 and ZNF185, and microRNAs including miR-126-5p, and miR-21-5p. This study provides the first in vivo evidence of the strong anticancer activity of arctigenin in prostate cancer. The effective dose of arctigenin in vitro is physiologically achievable in vivo, which provides a high promise in its translation to human application.

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This study investigated the inhibitory effect of arctigenin, a novel anti-inflammatory lignan, on prostate cancer in obese conditions both in vitro and in vivo. In vitro obese models were established by coculture of mouse adipocytes 3T3-L1 with androgen-sensitive LNCaP human prostate cancer cells, or by culturing LNCaP cells in adipocytes-conditioned medium. Arctigenin significantly inhibited LNCaP proliferation, along with decreased androgen receptor (AR) and increased Nkx3.1 cellular expression. Male severe combined immunodeficiency mice were subcutaneously implanted with human prostate cancer LAPC-4 xenograft tumors for in vivo study. Mice were fed high-fat (HF) diet and orally given arctigenin at 50 mg/kg body weight daily or vehicle control for 6 weeks. Tumor bearing HF control mice showed a significant increase in serum free fatty acids (FFAs) and decrease in subcutaneous/peritoneal fat depots compared to non-tumor bearing control mice. Arctigenin intervention significantly reduced tumor growth by 45%, associated with decreased circulating FFAs and adipokines/cytokines including IGF-1, VEGF, and MCP-1, along with decreased AR, Ki67, and microvessel density and increased Nkx3.1 expression in tumors. These results indicate the strong ability of arctigenin to co-target obesity and tumor itself in inhibition of prostate tumor growth at a lower concentration compared to most phytochemicals.

Arctigenin is a novel anti-inflammatory lignan derived mainly from the seeds of Arctium lappa which is an herb widely used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat inflammation related diseases. We previously demonstrated that arctigenin strongly inhibited prostate tumor cell growth in cell culture and mouse models in non-obese state. The present study investigated the tumor inhibitory effect of arctigenin in obese state. An in vitro obese setting was created by co-culture of mouse adipocytes 3T3-L1 with androgen-sensitive LAPC-4 and LNCaP prostate cancer cells. An ELISA analysis of 3T3-L1 conditioned medium revealed that three cytokines/growth factors were prominently secreted by 3T3-L1 cells, including IGF-1, VEGF, and MCP-1, and the sensitivity of prostate cancer cells to arctigenin was decreased in the obese state. However, arctigenin at a moderate concentration (10 µM) significantly inhibited the proliferation of both LAPC-4 and LNCaP cell by 40-50% at 96h in the co-culture system. Male severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice was implanted subcutaneously with LAPC-4 xenograft tumors to confirm the tumor-inhibitory effect of arctigenin in vivo. Mice were fed high-fat diet containing 45% energy from fat, and treated with arctigenin at 50mg/kg b.w. orally or vehicle control for 6 weeks (n=10 per group). The tumor growth in arctigenin group was significantly inhibited by 40% compared to control, along with decreased blood concentrations of several cytokines including IGF-1, VEGF, and MCP-1. Immunohistochemistry analysis is ongoing to determine the molecular changes involved in tumor cell proliferation and apoptosis in response to arctigenin treatment. This study provides a promising natural compound to enhance chemoprevention of prostate cancer especially in obese patients. These results warrant future clinical trial studies to confirm the anti-carcinogenic effect of arctigenin in humans. Citation Format: Piwen Wang, Tanya Diaz, Susanne Henning, Jaydutt Vadgama. Arctigenin inhibits prostate tumor growth in vitro and in vivo in obese state [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5253. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-5253