Inhibition effect of triptolide on human epithelial ovarian cancer via adjusting cellular immunity and angiogenesis

Chemotherapy resistance of advanced ovarian cancers is responsible for death of most cancer patients, so it is necessary to seek safe and effective natural ingredients to lower the chemotherapy resistance of ovarian cancer. In the present study, we studied the anticancer effects of triptolide (TPL) and TPL + cisplatin (DDP) in vitro and in vivo using SKOV3/DDP cell line and a mouse model. In vitro results showed that TPL and TPL + DDP inhibited cellular invasion and migration of SKOV3/DDP cells (P<0.05), and significantly reduced the expression of adhesion-related proteins integrin beta 1 (ITG beta 1) and apoptosis-inhibiting proteins survivin, matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 (P<0.05). Animal results demonstrated that TPL and TPL + DDP had significantly enhanced the inflammatory factor-2 (IL-2) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in serum of mice, and significantly increased the NK cell-related protein levels of CD16 and CD56, while significantly inhibited the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) related protein clusters of differentiation 31 (CD31) and CD105. Collectively, the combination of TPL and DDP may produce a synergistic anticancer effect on epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).