Effect of Astragalus Polysaccharide on the Expression of VEGF and EGFR in Mice with Lewis Transplantable Lung Cancer.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in mice with Lewis transplantable lung cancer. It was an experimental study carried out from June 2017 to January 2018 at the College of Pharmacy, Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, China. Forty male SPF-level C57BL/6J mice were selected and inoculated with Lewis lung cancer cell suspension in the right axilla of the mice to establish a lung-cancer mouse model. The mice were randomly divided into a model control group and APS groups with high, middle and low dosages, respectively, 10 in each group. After inoculation of Lewis tumor cell suspension for 2 days, mice in the model control group were injected intraperitoneally with 50 mL/kg of 0.9% sodium chloride solution, whereas, mice in the APS groups with high, middle and low dosages were intraperitoneally injected with APS at 100, 50, 25 mg/kg, respectively. The research results showed that APS can effectively inhibit the growth and metastasis of Lewis lung cancer in mice, improve immune organ function, inhibit the protein expression of VEGF and EGFR in tumor tissues, and have a concentration-effect relationships.