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Updated: Jun 3, 2025
The Colon-26 Carcinoma Tumor-bearing Mouse as a Model for the Study of Cancer Cachexia
Published on: November 30, 2016
Dihydroartemisinin ameliorates skeletal muscle atrophy in the lung cancer cachexia mouse model
Xin Li1,2, Zhiying Zhu2, Keting Wen2
1Department of Medical Ultrasound, Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, People's Republic of China.
Introduction:
Cancer cachexia (CC) is characterized by weight loss with specifically reduced skeletal muscles and adipose tissues in patients with late-stage cancer. Dihydroartemisinin (DHA), an effective antimalarial derivative of artemisinin, has been demonstrated to have anti-inflammatory and antitumor properties.
Materials And Methods:
This study examined the effects of DHA on the Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC)-induced CC mouse model.
Results:
DHA treatment significantly increases tumor-free body weight and food intake but decreases serum interleukin-6 level and tumor weight in CC mice. In addition, DHA treatment relieves muscle atrophy and decreases muscle ring finger 1 (MuRF1) and F-box-only protein 32 (Fbx32) expressions in CC mice. In vitro, DHA reverses the reduction in myotube formation induced by an LLC-conditioned medium and increases Fbx32 expression in C2C12 mouse myotubular cells.
Conclusions:
Our study demonstrated that DHA ameliorates the cachectic state and skeletal muscle atrophy in LLC-induced cachectic mouse models, suggesting its therapeutic potential for CC.
