Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Hemodynamic changes and tissue expressions of MVD and VEGF in rabbits before and after treatment of VX2 liver implantation tumor with β-elemene

Jingtao Gu¹, Liangshan Lv²

¹Department of Vascular Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University; ²Department of Gastroenterology and Interventional Radiography, Xi'an Gaoxin Hospital, Xi'an, PR China.

For correspondence:- Liangshan Lv Email: cfsqp7@163.com

Accepted: 26 November 2019 Published: 30 December 2019

Citation: Gu J, Lv L. Hemodynamic changes and tissue expressions of MVD and VEGF in rabbits before and after treatment of VX2 liver implantation tumor with β-elemene. Trop J Pharm Res 2019; 18(12):2539-2544 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v18i12.11

© 2019 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To investigate hemodynamic changes, tissue microvessel density (MVD), and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in rabbits before and after treatment of VX2 liver implantation tumor with β-elemene.

Methods: Forty New Zealand white rabbits of VX2 tumor strain provided by Xi’an Jiaotong University were used for establishment of VX2 liver implantation tumor model. Two groups of rabbits were used: control and study groups (20 rabbits per group). Control group was treated with saline infusion (2mL/10min), while rabbits in the study group were treated with 50 mg β-elemene perfusion for 10 min. Changes in hemodynamic indices, i.e., hepatic artery perfusion volume (AP), hepatic artery perfusion index (HPI), blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV) and hepatic portal vein blood flow (PVP) were determined using CT perfusion scanning. Following the sacrifice of the rabbits, tumor tissues and normal tissues around the tumor were subjected to immunohistochemical staining for assessment of MVD (CD31) and expression of VEGF.

Results: Post-treatment levels of hepatic arterial perfusion (HAP), BF and BV in rabbits in each group changed significantly, and PVP level was increased, but was markedly reduced in the study group, relative to control (p < 0.05). The pre- and post-treatment levels of HPI were comparable (p > 0.05). However, in the study group, there was a significant reduction in MVD and VEGF, when compared with control (p < 0.01).

Conclusion: β-elemene causes significant changes in the hemodynamic parameters of VX2 liver transplantation tumor in rabbits. The treatment significantly decreases the levels of HAP, BV and BF, while increasing that of PVP. Moreover, β-elemene significantly decreases VEGF expression and MVD.

Keywords: β-Elemene, VX2 liver implantation tumor, Hemodynamics, MVD, VEGF