Jie du tong ye san (JDTYS), a traditional Chinese herbal formula, has been used for
cancer adjuvant
therapy in clinical use and has been shown to be effective in
cancer patients. However, the mechanism of JDTYS is still unclear. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to investigate the chemopreventive effects of JDTYS for
esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and to clarify the potential mechanism.
N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA)-induced rat esophageal
carcinogenesis was used to evaluate the effect of JDTYS in vivo. Rats were treated with NMBA 3 times per week, for a total of 5 weeks. Rats in the treated groups were given JDTYS for 35 weeks. When rats were euthanized, esophageal tissue and blood were collected to evaluate the effects of JDTYS. The pathological grading of the rat esophageal preneoplastic lesions was classified and statistically analyzed. The
protein levels of c-Jun and Ki67 were determined by immunohistochemistry. In addition,
inflammation markers
nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB),
cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and the cluster of differentiation molecule 11B (CD11B) were also determined by immunohistochemistry. Moreover, the expression of COX-2 and
Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) in rat serum was determined by
enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA). JDTYS could inhibit the formation of NMBA-induced esophageal preneoplastic lesions. JDTYS could downregulate the expression of proliferation related
proteins Ki67 and c-Jun. Moreover,
inflammation related
proteins NF-κB, COX-2, and CD11B were inhibited and PTX3 was increased by JDTYS. In all, JDTYS is a promising chemopreventive formula against esophageal
carcinogenesis by regulating
inflammation and inhibiting cell proliferation.