Astragaloside IV – Effect on Tumor Disease

The immune system is generally able to recognize tumor cells and prevent tumor disease. Typically, tumor cells are rendered harmless by so-called killer cells (cytotoxic T-lymphocytes).

However, it can be fatal when tumor cells develop mechanisms which make it impossible for killer cells to fight the tumor. Tumor cells masquerade themselves in a certain way, and thus the cytotoxic T-lymphocytes can no longer recognize them as such.
Certain tumor cells produce the enzyme indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (IDO) in excess. Thereby tumor antigens are not “presented” any longer, which means that the immune system cannot recognize tumor cells as foreign anymore.

Another group of lymphocytes are the T regulatory cells (Treg) which are also called suppressor cells. They are able to suppress the immune system which is mainly useful in preventing the development of autoimmune diseases. But in the case of cancer rather a lower activity is useful.

In animal experiments, astragaloside IV on the one hand was able to increase the activity of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (upregulation) and on the other hand reduce the activity of T-regulatory lymphocytes (downregulation). Both procedures are useful for controlling tumor tissue. These effects could be detected in the living organism (in vivo) and in tumor cell lines (lung carcinoma cells) (in vitro) in animal experiments. Furthermore, astragaloside IV inhibited the enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, thereby improving the immune system’s ability to detect tumor tissue. This effect could also be demonstrated in vivo and in vitro.

In animal experiments (lung carcinoma), astragaloside IV thus unfolded anticancer activity by enhancing specific immune cells and preventing the masking of tumor cells.

Orginal Publication:
Astragaloside IV inhibits progression of lung cancer by mediating immune function of Tregs and CTLs by interfering with IDO

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