Experimental Study on the Effect of a Weifufang on Human Gastric Adenocarcinoma Cell Line BGC-823 Xenografts and PTEN Gene Expression in Nude Mice

Background: This study aims at investigating the effect of the Weifufang, an effective prescription for the treatment of gastric cancer developed by the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)/Combination of TCM and Western Medicine Department of the Hunan Cancer Hospital, on gastric cancer xenografts in nude mice and its effect on the PTEN gene; it also aims at exploring the possible tumor suppression mechanism. Methods: Nude mice with xenografts were treated with different concentrations of the Weifufang for 2 weeks, and changes in tumor volume were observed. The histopathology of the tumor was detected by hematoxylin and eosin staining; PTEN gene expression in tumor tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and western blot. Results: After 2 weeks of treatment, tumor inhibition rates in the 5-flourouracil (5-FU) group, and in the Weifufang low-, middle-, and high-dose groups were 30.67%, 19%, 49.52%, and 29.36%, respectively. The IOD of the PTEN gene was detected by IHC. The values in the water group, the 5-FU group, and the Weifufang low-, middle-, and high-dose groups were 0.013 +/- 0.004, 0.085 +/- 0.062, 0.041 +/- 0.024, 0.128 +/- 0.032, and 0.061 +/- 0.052, respectively. Except for the 5-FU group, the differences between the gastric compound middle dose-group and the other groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Results of PTEN expression detection by western blot: The expression levels in the water group, 5-FU group, and the Weifufang low-, middle-, and high-dose groups were 0.2240 +/- 0.0172, 0.4200 +/- 0.0228, 0.2760 +/- 0.0163, 0.3840 +/- 0.0133, and 0.3040 +/- 0.0211, respectively. Except for the 5-FU group, differences between the Weifufang middle-dose group and the other groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The Weifufang may inhibit the growth of gastric cancer xenografts by upregulating PTEN gene expression. The middle-dose group had the best effect.