Erchen Plus Huiyanzhuyu Decoction Inhibits the Growth of Laryngeal Carcinoma in a Mouse Model of Phlegm‐Coagulation‐Blood‐Stasis Syndrome via the STAT3/Cyclin D1 Pathway

Abstract

Erchen plus Huiyanzhuyu decoction (EHD), a Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) formula that consists of Erchen decoction and Huiyanzhuyu decoction, has achieved satisfactory results in the clinic. The main function of EHD is to remove phlegm and blood stasis, and EHD is suitable for phlegm-coagulation-blood-stasis (PCBS) syndrome in laryngeal cancer (LC). In this study, a xenograft mouse model of LC with PCBS syndrome was constructed by feeding a high-fat diet, swimming in ice water, and subcutaneously injecting epinephrine hydrochloride for 2 weeks. Based on the successful Chinese medicine syndrome model, Hep2-luciferase-GFP cells were injected subcutaneously under the armpit of the right upper limb in mice to form tumours. A mouse model of LC with PCBS syndrome was established via heterotopic transplantation. Then, the mice received intragastric administration of different concentrations of EHD daily, and cisplatin (DDP) was intraperitoneally injected every week for 21 days. Tumour fluorescence in mice was measured with a living animal imager on days 7, 14, 21, and 28 during treatment. The results of this experiment confirmed that a mouse model of Chinese medicine syndrome was successfully constructed. Moreover, EHD slowed the growth of xenograft tumours in nude mice; decreased the expression levels of STAT3, p-STAT3, and cyclin D1; and upregulated the expression level of P27. In brief, EHD inhibited laryngeal tumour growth in a xenograft mouse model of PCBS syndrome and regulated the STAT3/cyclin D1 signalling pathway. This study was the first to construct a Chinese medicine xenograft mouse model of LC with PCBS syndrome; in addition, this study clarified that EHD regulated the STAT3/cyclin D1 signalling pathway to inhibit the growth of LC and that EHD may be a promising novel therapeutic compound for the treatment of patients with LC.

Regulation of Fatty Acid Metabolism and Inhibition of Colorectal Cancer Progression by Erchen Decoction

“…Taken collectively, the data suggest that ECD is an efective lipid-lowering compound that acted by regulating fatty acid metabolism. Te antitumor efects of ECD in combination with Huiyan Zhuyu decoction have been established in laryngeal carcinomas [21,22]. ECD has also been used therapeutically for chronic bronchitis [23].…”

Investigating the effects and mechanisms of Erchen Decoction in the treatment of colorectal cancer by network pharmacology and experimental validation

“…ECD is the common TCM that originated from the Taiping Huimin Formula Bureau and has been widely applied in the treatment of obesity, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and other diseases caused by metabolic disorders ( Gao et al, 2015 ; Ding et al, 2018 ; Zhang et al, 2020a ; Zhao et al, 2021 ). Considering the remarkable metabolic regulation effects of ECD, recent studies indicated that ECD could inhibit tumorigenesis and promote the apoptosis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cells ( Tan et al, 2020 ; Zhou et al, 2020 ). While some clinical studies showed ECD could be utilized as adjuvant therapy for patients with advanced CRC ( Mei et al, 2016 ; Zhou et al, 2021 ), the anti-tumor effects and mechanisms of ECD on CRC have not been systematically determined.…”

“…The study, performed by our team, has found that one of the potential mechanisms of ECD is regulating the expression of PPARγ and LPL, and some other metabolism-related molecules ( Zhang et al, 2020a ). Recently, the team of Xi Tan has reported that ECD inhibits the growth of laryngeal carcinoma via the STAT3/Cyclin D1 pathway and it was the first study on the mechanism of ECD in the treatment of tumors ( Tan et al, 2020 ). In the current study, based on the results of key targets and pathways analysis, we speculated the underlying molecular mechanisms of ECD in the treatment of CRC are likely to be related to tumor immune and tumor metabolism in TME.…”

“…Targeting metabolism in tumors has recently been regarded as a novel therapeutic strategy for tumor therapy. Recently, Tan et al (2020) have found that ECD could effectively inhibit the growth of laryngeal cancer ( Zhou et al, 2020 ). CRC is also a metabolism-related malignant tumor, and the previous study indicated that ECD has a preventive effect on CRC by its regulation of tumor fatty acid metabolism.…”

Network pharmacology reveals the potential mechanism of Baiying Qinghou decoction in treating laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

“…Some Chinese herbs have been frequently utilized for the treatment of different diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and caners [ 8 – 10 ]. A recent research highlights that erchen plus huiyanzhuyu decoction can inhibit the growth of laryngeal carcinoma by modulating STAT3/cyclin D1 signaling pathway [ 11 ]. TCM exerts promising therapeutic effect on various malignant tumors.…”