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Aims. Abundant evidences in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) supported the therapeutic value of herbal medicine Yinchen in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the underlying mechanism remains to be investigated. Main Methods. The intersection of immune gene set, module genes, HCC-associated genes, and target genes of Yinchen was employed for further analyses. The module genes were identified by weighted gene coexpression network analysis, and the other three gene sets were obtained from public databases. Subsequently, we further explored the clinical value and immunoregulation of the hub gene of intersection. The relevant pathways related to hub gene expression were investigated by gene set enrichment analysis. Finally, the interaction of active compounds and target genes was validated by molecular docking. Key Findings. Thirteen active compounds and 90 target genes of Yinchen were included. After constructing the network among Yinchen, target genes, and HCC, BIRC5 was identified as the hub gene. Significant difference was found between the high-expressed group and the low-expressed group in survival and stage. Different immune subtypes also presented significant difference in BIRC5 expression. Moreover, NK cell and T cell (CD4+ effector memory and CD4+ memory resting) were negatively correlated with BIRC5 expression, while CTLA4 and LAG3 were positively correlated. The results of molecular docking further validated a good binding activity of quercetin-BIRC5 interaction. Significance. In summary, our research identified for the first time a novel underlying association among herbal medicine Yinchen, BIRC5, immunotherapy, and HCC. We speculated that Yinchen may target the immune checkpoints (CTLA4 and LAG3) and activate the immune cells by suppressing BIRC5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Accumulating evidence from prospective epidemiological studies has showed that depression disorder (DD) is a risk factor for cancer. The aim of this study is to explore the association of DD and the overall occurrence risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the mechanism. Methods. In this study, 60 mice were randomly divided into four groups: Control group, DD group, HCC group, HCC-DD group. Mice received a chronic dose of reserpine to establish depression model, followed by Diethylnitrosamine and Carbon tetrachloride administration to establish HCC models. Behavioral depression was assessed by sucrose preference test (SPT) and the expression of Serotonin 1A (5-HT1A) receptor in the hippocampal. The expression of Oatp2a1 and Oatp2b1 in the digestive system tissues was detected by PCR and western blotting. Results. Reserpine-administrated mice had a reducing sucrose preference at Day 14 compared with blank mice (P<0.05). The expression of 5-HT1A receptor in the hippocampal was decreased in DD mice compared with blank mice. The survival analysis indicated that the HCC mice with DD have poorer survival rate compared with the HCC mice. Compared with HCC mice, the expression of Oatp2a1 and Oatp2b1 was lower in liver and stomach tissue and higher in hepatic carcinoma and colon tissue of HCC-DD mice (P<0.05), and the expression of Oatp2a1 was higher in the spleen tissue of HCC-DD mice while the expression of Oatp2b1 was lower (P<0.05). However, no difference was found in the expression of Oatp2a1 and Oatp2b1 in the small intestine tissue between HCC group and HCC-DD group. Conclusions. DD was the adverse factors for the overall occurrence risk of HCC. Mechanistically, be the downregulation of Oatp2a1 and Oatp2b1 in liver tissue induced by DD might be involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Chinese Medicine Jianpijiedu decoction (JPJD) could improve the general status of liver cancer patients in clinics, especially the symptoms of decreased food intake and diarrhea. In this study, our results showed that the survival rate of the liver cancer with food restriction and diarrhea (FRD-LC) rats was lower than the liver cancer (LC) rats, and the tumor volume of the FRD-LC rats was higher than the LC rats. It was also shown that the high dose of JPJD significantly improved the survival rate, weight, and organ weight when compared with FRD-LC-induced rats. Moreover, JPJD administration upregulated the mRNA and protein levels of ABCC2 and downregulated the mRNA and protein levels of OATP1B2 in liver tissues. However, opposite results were observed in the cancer tissues. In conclusion, the study indicated that the Chinese Medicine JPJD could contribute to the rats with liver cancer which were pretreated with food restriction and diarrhea by regulating the expression of ABCC2 and OATP1B2 in liver tissues and cancer tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]