Treatment of lycorine on SCID mice model with human APL cells

Abstract

In our previous study, lycorine, a natural alkaloid extracted from Amaryllidaceae, exhibited anti-leukemia effects in vitro. To determine whether lycorine has an anti-tumor effect in vivo, a series of experiments were carried out in this study. HL-60 cells (5 x 10(6)) were inoculated i.v. into severe combined immuno-deficiency (SCID) mice after these mice had been irradiated (total body receiving 200cGy chi irradiation). Treatment was given once a day from day 2 to 6, and from day 14 to 18. Lycorine (5 or 10 mg/kg/day i.p.) was found to decrease the percentages of immature granular leukocytes and of monocytes among the peripheral blood cells, and the mean survival time of both lycorine-treated groups was longer than that of the control group. Compared with the asynchronous and cytosine arabinoside- (Ara-C) treated (20 mg/kg/day i.p.) group, treatment with lycorine was more effective. Lycorine was also found to alleviate the infiltration of tumor cells into the liver, bone, and marrow. When SCID mice inoculated with HL-60 cells were then treated with lycorine, no severe adverse effects were observed. This study revealed that lycorine, when tested in the human leukemia xenograft models, appears to exhibit anti-tumor activity in vivo and is a useful therapy against acute promyelocytic leukemia.

Pancratistatin Selectively Targets Cancer Cell Mitochondria and Reduces Growth of Human Colon Tumor Xenografts

“…The antitumor activity of pancratistatin was found to be more potent than sodium pancratistatin 3,4-ocyclic phosphate, reported by Shnyder and colleagues (34) to have antitumor activity at 100 mg/kg. Other Amaryllidaceae alkaloids, including narciclasine and lycorine, have antitumor activity at doses that complement our findings (35,36).…”

Lycorine induces programmed necrosis in the multiple myeloma cell line ARH-77

“…Previously, this compound has been shown to possess various pharmacological effects, including significantly higher antiproliferative activities in tumor cell lines compared to normal cells and in vivo activity against the B16F10 melanoma model [46,47]. Previous studies by our group demonstrated that lycorine can inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in leukemia cell lines [48][49][50], and lycorine treatment can extend the survival time of human acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) cells in a SCID mouse xenograft model [51]. The present study was conducted to study the effect and mechanism of lycorine against multiple myeloma.…”

The Genus Galanthus: A Source of Bioactive Compounds

“…The in vitro mode of action in a HL-60 leukemia cell line model is associated with suppressing tumor cell growth and reducing cell survival via cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis (Liu et al, 2004). Further investigation showed that it is able to decrease tumor cell growth and increase survival rates with no observable adverse effects in treated animals (Liu et al, 2007), thus being a good candidate for a therapeutic agent against leukaemia (Liu et al, 2009).…”