[Effects of Compound Zhebei Granule plus doxorubicin on mdr 1 gene expression in nude mice with K562/A02 tumor xenografts].

Objective: To investigate the effects of Compound Zhebei Granule (CZBG), a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, combined with adriamycin (ADM) on mdr 1 gene expression in tumor xenografts in nude mice.

Methods: A tumor xenografts model was established by subcutaneously injecting multidrug resistance cell line K562/A02 into the axillary flank of BALB/c-nu mice. Sixty tumor-bearing nude mice were divided into untreated group, ADM group and high-, medium-, and low-dose CZBG plus ADM groups. The nude mice in the CZBG plus ADM groups were intragastrically administered with CZBG once per day and intraperitoneally injected with ADM once every other day. The nude mice in the untreated group and the ADM group were administered with normal saline or ADM respectively. The course of treatment was continuous for 14 days. The weight of tumor xenografts was measured after treatment and the inhibition rate of tumor xenografts was calculated. The mdr 1 gene expression in tumor xenografts was tested by quantitative polymerase chain reaction method.

Results: Compared with the untreated group, CZBG (high-, medium- and low-dose) plus ADM could significantly decrease the weight of tumor xenografts in nude mice (P<0.05). Compared with ADM, high- and medium-dose CZBG plus ADM could decrease the weight of tumor xenografts in nude mice with statistical significance (P<0.05). The high- and medium-dose CZBG plus ADM could also significantly decrease the mdr 1 gene expression in tumor xenografts as compared with ADM alone (P<0.05).

Conclusion: CZBG at high- and medium-dose plus ADM can inhibit the growth of tumor xenografts and decrease the mdr 1 gene expression in tumor xenografts in nude mice.