Molecular Mechanism Of Qi-supplementing And Yin-nourishing Recipe On Th1/th2 Shift In Elderly Patients With Non-small-cell Lung Cancer

Part 1 The Influence of Qi-Supplementing and Yin-Nourishing recipe on Th2 Shift in elderly patients with non-small-cell lung cancer【OBJECTIVE】To investigate the effect of chemotherapy and Qi-Supplementing and Yin-Nourishing recipe on Th1/Th2 shift in elderly patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.【METHODS】Sixty patients were randomly divided into three groups: Chinese herbal medicine group,chemotherapy combined with Chinese herbal medicine group and chemotherapy group. After two treatment courses, serum levels of IFN-γ,IL-2,IL-4 and IL-10 were assessed by ELISA, using IFN-γand IL-2 as Th1 type cytokines,IL-4 and IL-10 as Th2 type cytokines.【RESULTS】After chemotherapy, the levels of IFN-γand IL-2 were significantly higher, while thelevels of IL-4 and IL-10 were significantly lower. Chemotherapy combined with Chinese herbal medicine significantly reduced the levels of IL-4 and IL-10 and in Chinese herbal medicine group the levels of IFN-γand IL-2 were obviously increased. For chemotherapy group, there were higher levels of Th1 type cytokines and lower levels of Th2 type cytokines in combination group and Chinese herbal medicine group.【CONCLUSION】The results show that chemotherapy would contribute to the growth of Th2 type cytokines and the Qi-Supplementing and Yin-Nourishing therapy could reverse Th1/Th2 shift in elderly patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. Part 2 Molecular Mechanism of Qi-Supplementing and Yin-Nourishing recipe on Th2 Shift in elderly patients with non-small-cell lung cancer【OBJECTIVE】This study was carried out to explore the possible molecular mechanism of Qi-Supplementing and Yin-Nourishing recipe on Th2 Shift in elderly patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.【METHODS】Sixty patients were randomly divided into three groups: Chinese herbal medicine group,chemotherapy combined with Chinese herbal medicine group and chemotherapy group. After two treatment courses, the expression of T-bet mRNA and GATA3 mRNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC) were detected by RT-PCR, using T-bet as the transcription factor of Th1 cell and GATA3 as the transcription factor of Th2 Cell.【RESULTS】The gene expression of T-bet mRNA in Chinese herbal medicine group and chemotherapy combined with Chinese herbal medicine group was obviously higher than that of chemotherapy group. Simultaneously, the gene expression of GATA-3 mRNA in Chinese herbal medicine group and chemotherapy combined with Chinese herbal medicine group was significantly lower than that of chemotherapy group.【CONCLUSION】The results show that the Qi-Supplementing and Yin-Nourishing therapy could reverse Th1/Th2 shift in elderly patients with non-small-cell lung cancer and its molecular mechanism might be that the Qi-Supplementing and Yin-Nourishing therapy could regulate the expression of transcription factors T-bet/GATA3 to control a complicated molecular network composed by cytokines,transcription factors and cellular signal transduction pathway.