BACKGROUND Cancer cachexia is a severe condition that leads to the death of advanced cancer patients, and approximately 50~80% of cancer patients have cancer cachexia. Ginseng extract has been reported to have substantial anticancer and immune-enhancing effects; however, no study has reported the use of ginseng alone to treat cancer cachexia. Our study's purpose was to investigate the therapeutic effects of ginseng-related monomers or mixtures on a cancer cachexia mouse model. METHODS We selected BALB/c mice and injected the mice subcutaneously with C26 colon cancer cells to construct a cancer cachexia experimental animal model. The water extract of ginseng (WEG), two types of ginseng extracts (ginsenosides at doses of 5 mg/kg (GE5) and 50 mg/kg (GE50)) and ginsenoside Rb1 (Rb1) were used to treat cancer cachexia mice. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were used to analyze the inhibitory effects on two key inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). RESULTS Our experimental results show that GE5, GE50 and Rb1 significantly reduced the levels of TNF-α (P < 0.01) and IL-6 (P < 0.01), which are closely related to cancer cachexia; however, WEG, GE5, GE50 and Rb1 did not significantly improve the gastrocnemius muscle weight or the epididymal fat weight of mice with cancer cachexia. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that GE5, GE50 and Rb1 may be useful for reducing symptoms due to inflammation by reducing the TNF-α and IL-6 cytokine levels in cancer cachexia mice, thereby ameliorating the symptoms of cancer cachexia. Our results may be beneficial for future studies on the use of Chinese herbal medicines to treat cancer cachexia.

中文翻译：

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人参皂苷Rb1可以改善癌症恶病质小鼠模型中的关键炎性细胞因子TNF-α和IL-6。

背景技术癌症恶病质是导致晚期癌症患者死亡的严重状况，并且大约50％至80％的癌症患者患有癌症恶病质。据报道，人参提取物具有显着的抗癌和免疫增强作用。然而，没有研究报道单独使用人参来治疗癌症恶病质。我们的研究目的是研究人参相关单体或混合物对癌症恶病质小鼠模型的治疗作用。方法我们选择BALB / c小鼠，并向其皮下注射C26结肠癌细胞，以建立恶病质实验动物模型。人参水提取物（WEG），两种人参提取物（剂量分别为5 mg / kg（GE5）和50 mg / kg（GE50）的人参皂甙）和人参皂甙Rb1（Rb1）用于治疗恶病质小鼠。酶联免疫吸附试验（ELISA）用于分析对两种关键炎症细胞因子，肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）和白介素-6（IL-6）的抑制作用。结果我们的实验结果表明，GE5，GE50和Rb1显着降低了TNF-α（P <0.01）和IL-6（P <0.01）的水平，这与癌症恶病质密切相关。然而，WEG，GE5，GE50和Rb1并不能显着改善患有恶病质的小鼠的腓肠肌重量或附睾脂肪重量。结论这些结果表明，GE5，GE50和Rb1可通过降低癌症恶病质小鼠的TNF-α和IL-6细胞因子水平来减轻炎症引起的症状，从而减轻癌症恶病质的症状。