The Augmented Anti-Tumor Effects of Antrodia camphorata Co-Fermented with Chinese Medicinal Herb in Human Hepatoma Cells

Abstract

Antrodia camphorata, unique fungal specie, has been used as a folk medicine in Taiwan for many years. The purpose of this study was to compare the extracts from the solid-state culture of A. camphorata co-fermented with Chinese medicinal herb (AC-CF) with two other extracts from fruiting bodies (AC-FB) or solid-state culture (AC-SS), for their anti-tumor effects in human hepatoma HepG2 cells. We measured in vitro cell proliferation, percentage of apoptosis, population distribution of cell cycles, Western blot analysis of multiple drugs resistance-1 (MDR-1), and apoptosis-related proteins in HepG2 cells treated with three different preparations of A. camphorate extracts. Our results showed that AC-CF had better anti-proliferation effect on human hepatoma HepG2 cells than AC-FB or AC-SS dose-dependently. In addition, AC-CF in combination with anti-tumor agents (mitomycin C or methotrexate) showed better adjuvant anti-tumor effects than AC-FB or AC-SS. We further demonstrated the augmented adjuvant anti-tumor effects of AC-CF not only through down regulation of MDR-1 expression but also through a COX-2 dependent apoptosis pathway, involving down-regulation of COX-2 and p-AKT and up-regulation of PARP-1. In conclusion, in this study, we have demonstrated a novel strategy of fermenting A. camphorata with Chinese medicinal herb (AC-CF), which augmented their anti-tumor effects in human hepatoma HepG2 cells as compared to the traditional ones (AC-FB or AC-SS).

Taiwanofungus camphoratus (Syn Antrodia camphorata) Extract and Amphotericin B Exert Adjuvant Effects via Mitochondrial Apoptotic Pathway

“…29 Therefore, the pretreatment of TCEE might possibly present not only ergosterol-like triterpenoids but also an inhibitor of AmB activated cell-specific survival factors leading to a significant increase in the apoptotic index at a lower AmB concentration. In addition to AmB, the extract of T camphoratus exhibits adjuvant antitumor effects when combining with traditional chemotherapeutic agents, such as mitomycin C, methotrexate, 29 and cisplatin. 30 Furthermore, as reported in the review by Cohen, 7 an increased intracellular calcium concentration by TCEE in cancer cells associated with the formation of AmB aq-pores might be another potential possibility, which leads to the abrupt decrease of the concentration threshold for the increased apoptotic and potentially synergistic effects by AmB that are observed in this study.…”

Improving insulin resistance with Antrodia cinnamomea mycelium powder to induce a hypoglycemic effect in dexamethasone‑induced insulin‑resistant rats

“…Antrodia cinnamomea (AC) is a Taiwanese fungus species that grows in the hollow trunk of the Cinnamomum kanehirai tree. Previous investigations have indicated that AC may suppress tumor formation (12), enhance the immune system (13), inhibit viral activity and protect the liver (14). It is often used in Taiwanese folk medicine.…”

Macrophage Mediated Anti-Proliferation Effects ofAnthodia camphorataNon-Polysaccharide Based Extracts on Human Hepatoma Cells

“…21,35) Therefore, although in the present study AC-PS did not show any significant anti-tumor effects as AC-FB and AC-SS did, it might have better anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects than AC-FB or AC-SS. It is possible that in some circumstances extracts of A. camphorata with abundant polysaccharides, like our preparation of AC-PS, can exert antiproliferation effects partially through anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant mechanisms, as has been observed in other studies, 36,37) perhaps not be through the macrophage-mediated mechanism we.…”