Inhibitory effect of Siwei Xiaoliuyin on glioma angiogenesis in nude mice

A review of traditional Chinese medicine Curcumae Rhizoma for treatment of glioma

Glioma is the most common primary central nervous tumor and its malignant and high recurrence rate are seriously threatening patient's life. The prognosis of glioma patients is still poor with a variety of modern treatments. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used in the adjuvant treatment or alternative medicine of glioma. Curcumae Rhizoma is one of the most commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions for its anti-tumor characteristics. There are also many studies that reveals the anti-tumor effect of its active ingredients and some of which have been made into drugs and have been used in clinical practice. This review summarizes the new research progress on Curcumae Rhizoma for the treatment of glioma in recent years.

Apis mellifera anatoliaca Venom Exerted Anti-Inflammatory Activity on LPS-Stimulated Mammalian Macrophages by Reducing the Production of the Inflammatory Cytokines

Extraction and characterization of natural products provide the opportunity to expand our arsenal of drug candidates against a wide range of diseases including cancer and inflammatory disorders. Previous studies have shown bee venom to have immense potential as an anti-inflammatory drug candidate. In this study, we focused on the venom of Apis mellifera anatoliaca and characterized its content by HPLC. An in vitro inflammation model based on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated mammalian macrophages was utilized to examine the venom's anti-inflammatory potential. Additionally, its antiproliferative activity was evaluated in vitro against a human glioblastoma cell line. Based on the TNF, IL6, GMCSF, and IL12p40 pro-inflammatory cytokine production level in LPS-induced macrophages, venom-treated groups showed substantial decrease in the inflammatory action compared to untreated LPS-stimulated macrophages. When the cells were analyzed for viability, the venom did not have any cytotoxic effect on the macrophages at the concentration ranges that were utilized. Moreover, IC₅₀ value of the venom was above 60 µg/mL on glioblastoma cancer cell line. These results suggest that the Apis mellifera anatoliaca venom does not have anticancer drug candidate potential, whereas it can efficiently be used against inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. To our knowledge, this is the first study to specifically examine the effect of anti-inflammatory activity of Apis mellifera anatoliaca venom on macrophages.

The therapeutic and neuroprotective effects of an antiepileptic drug valproic acid in glioma patients

Glioma is the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults and the patients have poor prognosis despite treatment with surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The anti-epileptic drug, valproic acid (VPA) as a HDAC inhibitors is often used in glioma patients even if the patients don't have brain tumors associated epilepsy (BAE). Some previous studies have found that VPA not only has anti-epileptic effect, but also has anti-glioma growth effect through enhance radiotherapy sensitivity or other mechanism. Then VPA is reported to improve the survival of glioma patients receiving chemoradiation therapy. In addition, there are limited researches have shown that VPA has a neuroprotective effect in protect normal cells and tissues from the deleterious effects of treatment of glioma, especially radiotherapy. We'll give a brief overview of these effects of VPA in glioma patients.