Anticancer effect of a combination of cisplatin and matrine on cervical cancer U14 cells and U14 tumor-bearing mice, and possible mechanism of action involved

Purpose: To investigate the anticancer effects of cisplatin (DDP) in combination with matrine on cervical cancer U14 cell tumor-bearing mice. Methods: The cell proliferation of cervical cancer U14 cells treated with DDP (25, 20, 15, 10 and 5 μg/mL); matrine (2.5, 2.0, 1.5, 1.0 and 0.5 mg/mL); or DDP (15 μg/mL) + matrine (2.5, 2.0, 1.5, 1.0 and 0.5 mg/mL) was determined with MTT assay. The anticancer effect of DDP + matrine in U14 tumor-bearing mice was also investigated, based on expression of tumor suppressor lung cancer 1 (TSLC1) using quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry. Results: The inhibition of proliferation of U14 cells ranged from 26.68–70.25, 10.20–61.73, and 51.89–89.75 % for DDP, matrine and DDP + matrine, respectively. In mice with U14 solid tumors, the DDP group had 12.3 % weight loss (p < 0.05). Treatment with DDP, matrine, and DDP + matrine reduced tumor growth by 64.56, 42.22–56.67, and 67.78–81.11 %, respectively (p < 0.01). Results from RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry showed corresponding increases in expression levels of TSLC1. Conclusion: These results indicate that the anticancer activity of DDP + matrine is higher than that of a single treatment with either DPP or matrine. The likely mechanism of action might be related to promotion of TSLC1 expression. This finding provides a potential strategy for the management of cervical cancer.