AUTHOR=Gu Junfei , Sun Ruolan , Wang Qiaohan , Liu Fuyan , Tang Decai , Chang Xiangwei 

TITLE=Standardized Astragalus Mongholicus Bunge-Curcuma Aromatica Salisb. Extract Efficiently Suppresses Colon Cancer Progression Through Gut Microbiota Modification in CT26-Bearing Mice

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.714322

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2021.714322

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p>Altered gut microbiota and a damaged colon mucosal barrier have been implicated in the development of colon cancer. <italic>Astragalus mongholicus</italic> Bunge-<italic>Curcuma aromatica</italic> Salisb. (ACE) is a common herbal drug pair that widely used clinically to treat cancer. However, whether the anti-cancer effect of ACE is related to gut microbiota remains unclear yet. We standardized ACE and investigated the effects of ACE on tumour suppression and analyze the related mechanisms on gut microbiota in CT26 colon cancer-bearing mice in the present study. Firstly, four flavonoids (calycosin-7-glucoside, ononin, calycosin, formononetin) and three astragalosides (astragaloside A, astragaloside II, astragaloside I) riched in <italic>Astragalus mongholicus</italic> Bunge, three curcumins (bisdemethoxycurcumin, demethoxycurcumin, curcumin) and four essential oils (curdione, curzerene, germacrone and β-elemene) from <italic>Curcuma aromatica</italic> Salisb., in concentrations from 0.08 to 2.07 mg/g, were examined in ACE. Then the results <italic>in vivo</italic> studies indicated that ACE inhibited solid tumours, liver and spleen metastases of colon cancer while simultaneously reducing pathological tissue damage. Additionally, ACE regulated gut microbiota dysbiosis and the short chain fatty acid content in the gut, repaired intestinal barrier damage. ACE treatment suppressed the overgrowth of conditional pathogenic gut bacteria, including <italic>Escherichia-Shigella</italic>, <italic>Streptococcus</italic> and <italic>Enterococcus</italic>, while the probiotic gut microbiota like <italic>Lactobacillus</italic>, <italic>Roseburia</italic>, Prevotellaceae<italic>_UCG-001</italic> and <italic>Mucispirillum</italic> were increased. More interestingly, the content level of SCFAs such as propionic acid and butyric acid was increased after ACE administration, which further mediates intestinal SDF-1/CXCR4 signalling pathway to repair the integrity of the intestinal barrier, decrease Cyclin D1 and C-myc expressions, eventually suppress the tumor the growth and metastasis of colon cancer. To sum up, the present study demonstrated that ACE could efficiently suppress colon cancer progression through gut microbiota modification, which may provide a new explanation of the mechanism of ACE against colon cancer.</p>