Basic Study
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World J Gastrointest Oncol. Apr 15, 2022; 14(4): 872-886
Published online Apr 15, 2022. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v14.i4.872
Xihuang pills induce apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma by suppressing phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase-B/mechanistic target of rapamycin pathway
Yong-Jie Teng, Zhe Deng, Zhao-Guang Ouyang, Qing Zhou, Si Mei, Xing-Xing Fan, Yong-Rong Wu, Hong-Ping Long, Le-Yao Fang, Dong-Liang Yin, Bo-Yu Zhang, Yin-Mei Guo, Wen-Hao Zhu, Zhen Huang, Piao Zheng, Di-Min Ning, Xue-Fei Tian
Yong-Jie Teng, Qing Zhou, Hong-Ping Long, Le-Yao Fang, The First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410208, Hunan Province, China
Zhe Deng, Yong-Rong Wu, Yin-Mei Guo, Wen-Hao Zhu, Zhen Huang, Piao Zheng, Di-Min Ning, Xue-Fei Tian, College of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Hunan Key Laboratory of Translational Research in Formulas and Zheng of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410208, Hunan Province, China
Zhao-Guang Ouyang, Department of Preventive Dentistry, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Basic and Applied Research of Oral Regenerative Medicine, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510132, Guangdong Province, China
Si Mei, Department of Physiology, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410208, Hunan Province, China
Xing-Xing Fan, State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Macau Institute For Applied Research in Medicine and Health, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China
Dong-Liang Yin, School of Pharmacy, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410208, Hunan Province, China
Bo-Yu Zhang, College of Acupuncture and Massage, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410208, Hunan Province, China
Author contributions: Teng YJ, Deng Z, and Wu YR completed the experiment and wrote the paper; Teng YJ, Deng Z, and Ouyang ZG reviewed the manuscript; Tian XF and Zhou Q provided research ideas; Long HP and Fang LY performed HPLC analysis; Zhang BY has processed the figures of the article; Fan XX, Yin DL, Guo YM, Zheng P, Huang Z and Ning DM conducted statistical analysis; all authors have read and approved the manuscript to ensure its accuracy and completeness.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. U20A20408 and No. 82074450; Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, No. 2020JJ4066; Hunan Province "Domestic First-class Cultivation Discipline" Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Open Fund Project, No. 2020ZXYJH34 and No. 2020ZXYJH35; Hunan Graduate Scientific Research Innovation Project, No. QL20210173 and No. CX20210730; Hunan Province Science and Technology Innovation Talents Plan College Students Science and Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Project, No. 2020RC1004; Guangzhou Health Science and Technology Project, No. 20221A011102; and Hunan Traditional Chinese Medicine Scientific Research Project, No. 202101.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Review Committee of Experimental Animal Welfare at the Central South University in Changsha, China.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Data sharing statement: Dataset available from the corresponding author at 003640@hnucm.edu.cn. Participants gave informed consent for data sharing.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xue-Fei Tian, PhD, Professor, College of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Hunan Key Laboratory of Translational Research in Formulas and Zheng of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, No. 300 Xueshi Road, Yuelu District, Changsha 410208, Hunan Province, China. 003640@hnucm.edu.cn
Received: September 7, 2021
Peer-review started: September 7, 2021
First decision: December 4, 2021
Revised: December 30, 2021
Accepted: March 14, 2022
Article in press: March 14, 2022
Published online: April 15, 2022
Processing time: 219 Days and 19 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: The study revealed that Xihuang pills (XHP) increases caspase-9 and caspase-3 activities by inhibiting the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase-B/mechanistic target of rapamycin signalling pathway and induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Consequently, our study indicated that XHP inhibits the growth, migration, and proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Our study provides a better understanding of the antitumour effects of XHP and reveals the underlying mechanism. The findings of this study suggest that XHP might serve as a supplementary medicine in HCC treatment.