Ginsenoside Rd Improves Anticancer Drug-induced Disturbance in Murine Airway Ciliary Motility.

Area of Science:

• Pulmonology
• Pharmacology
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Lung cancer patients face chemotherapy complications like pneumonia due to damage to airway epithelial cells.
• Mucociliary clearance (MCC) is vital for respiratory health, clearing foreign substances via mucus and ciliated cells.
• Ginsenoside Rd (Rd) previously showed potential to enhance MCC by increasing ciliary beat frequency (CBF).

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if common anticancer drugs reduce murine airway ciliated cell CBF.
• To investigate the protective effect of Rd against this drug-induced CBF suppression.

Main Methods:

• Primary murine airway ciliated cells were exposed to anticancer drugs, with and without Rd, to measure CBF.
• Intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate ([cAMP]i) and calcium ([Ca2+]i) levels were assessed in lung cancer cells (A549) under similar conditions.

Main Results:

• Doxorubicin, cisplatin, pemetrexed, paclitaxel, and docetaxel significantly decreased CBF.
• Rd ameliorated the CBF reduction caused by these anticancer drugs.
• Paclitaxel and docetaxel reduced [Ca2+]i, while Rd improved ciliary motility by increasing [cAMP]i.

Conclusions:

• Anticancer drugs impair CBF, increasing the risk of respiratory infections and pneumonia in lung cancer patients.
• Rd demonstrated a protective effect against drug-induced CBF suppression.
• Ginsenoside Rd may be a potential therapeutic agent to mitigate chemotherapy-related respiratory complications.