Effects of herbal preparation Equiguard™ on hormone-responsive and hormone-refractory prostate carcinoma cells: Mechanistic studies

  • Authors:
    • Tze-Chen Hsieh
    • Xiaohua Lu
    • Junqiao Guo
    • Wen Xiong
    • Jan Kunicki
    • Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz
    • Joseph M. Wu
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: April 1, 2002     https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.20.4.681
  • Pages: 681-689
Metrics: Total Views: 0 (Spandidos Publications: | PMC Statistics: )
Total PDF Downloads: 0 (Spandidos Publications: | PMC Statistics: )


Abstract

The Equiguard™ is a dietary supplement comprised of standardized extracts from nine herbs, respectively, Herba epimedium brevicornum Maxim (stem and leaves), Radix morindae officinalis (root), Fructus rosa laevigatae michx (fruit), Rubus chingii Hu (fruit), Schisandra chinensis (Turz.) Baill (fruit), Ligustrum lucidum Ait (fruit), Cuscuta chinensis Lam (seed), Psoralea corylifolia L. (fruit), and Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge (root). This proprietary product, formulated according to Chinese traditional medicinal concepts, is aimed at restoring harmony in the of the kidney, an organ which Chinese medicinal principles consider to be vital for invigorating as well as maintaining balance of the entire urological system. As the prostate is an integral component of the urological system, we performed in vitro studies to test the effects of ethanol extracts of Equiguard to modulate prostate growth and gene expression. These studies used prostate cancer cells mimicking the androgen-dependent (AD) and androgen-independent (AI) states of prostate carcinogenesis. Results show that Equiguard significantly reduced cancer cell growth, induced apoptosis, suppressed expression of the androgen receptor (AR) and lowered intracellular and secreted prostate specific antigen (PSA), and almost completely abolished colony forming abilities of prostate cancer cells. These data support the interpretation that this herbal formulation contains ingredients that collectively may be efficacious in preventing or treating AD and AI prostate carcinoma. The anti-prostatic activities of Equiguard may stem from its complex composition capable of targeting multiple signal transduction/metabolic pathways, to effectively correct, counteract or circumvent the impaired or dysfunctional mechanisms accompanying different stages of prostate carcinogenesis.

Related Articles

Journal Cover

April 2002
Volume 20 Issue 4

Print ISSN: 1019-6439
Online ISSN:1791-2423

Sign up for eToc alerts

Recommend to Library

Copy and paste a formatted citation
x
Spandidos Publications style
Hsieh T, Lu X, Guo J, Xiong W, Kunicki J, Darzynkiewicz Z and Wu JM: Effects of herbal preparation Equiguard™ on hormone-responsive and hormone-refractory prostate carcinoma cells: Mechanistic studies. Int J Oncol 20: 681-689, 2002.
APA
Hsieh, T., Lu, X., Guo, J., Xiong, W., Kunicki, J., Darzynkiewicz, Z., & Wu, J.M. (2002). Effects of herbal preparation Equiguard™ on hormone-responsive and hormone-refractory prostate carcinoma cells: Mechanistic studies. International Journal of Oncology, 20, 681-689. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.20.4.681
MLA
Hsieh, T., Lu, X., Guo, J., Xiong, W., Kunicki, J., Darzynkiewicz, Z., Wu, J. M."Effects of herbal preparation Equiguard™ on hormone-responsive and hormone-refractory prostate carcinoma cells: Mechanistic studies". International Journal of Oncology 20.4 (2002): 681-689.
Chicago
Hsieh, T., Lu, X., Guo, J., Xiong, W., Kunicki, J., Darzynkiewicz, Z., Wu, J. M."Effects of herbal preparation Equiguard™ on hormone-responsive and hormone-refractory prostate carcinoma cells: Mechanistic studies". International Journal of Oncology 20, no. 4 (2002): 681-689. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.20.4.681