Matrine, an
alkaloid isolated from Sophora flavescens, promotes
tumor cell apoptosis and strengthens the anticancer capacity of chemotherapeutic drugs. The present study aimed to investigate the inhibitory effect and underlying mechanism of
matrine in combination with
cisplatin on
liver cancer progression.
Tumor progression was studied in nude mice. The human
liver cancer cell line HepG2 was injected into BALB/c nude mice subcutaneously to establish a
tumor model. Mice were subsequently treated with
matrine,
cisplatin,
matrine +
cisplatin or
normal saline. Nude mice and
tumor growth were monitored.
Tumors were excised and the expression of
survivin,
caspase-3,
caspase-7 and
caspase-9 was detected by immunohistochemistry. Western blotting was used to determine the expression of
survivin,
caspase-3,
caspase-7,
caspase-9 and
X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) in
tumor tissues. The results demonstrated that
matrine exerted anticancer effects in
liver cancer-transplanted
tumors, as evidenced by decrease in
tumor weight and volume. Furthermore, the
tumor inhibition rate in mice treated with
matrine +
cisplatin was 83.3%, whereas it was of 37.5 and 75% in mice treated with
matrine or
cisplatin alone, respectively. In addition, the expression of
survivin and XIAP was significantly downregulated, whereas the expression of
caspase-3,
caspase-7 and
caspase-9 was significantly upregulated in
tumor tissues from nude mice treated with
matrine +
cisplatin, compared with those treated with
cisplatin,
matrine or
normal saline. These findings suggested that the combination of
matrine and
cisplatin may promote
tumor cell apoptosis in
liver cancer by activating the
caspase apoptosis pathway and suppressing the
survivin-associated inhibition of
caspase-9.