Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Serum pharmacology was used to explore anti-gastric cancer effects of licorice and dried ginger decoction (LDGD) in vitro,and its anti-gastric cancer mechanism was discussed based on network pharmacology and molecular docking. METHODS: After intragastric administrations of LDGD in different proportions to mice,serum samples were extracted by taking blood from abdominal aorta.Effects of the drug containing serum on activities of human gastric cancer cells AGS and human umbilical vein endothelial cells HUVEC in vitro were observed using the MTT method.The "component target" network of LDGD against the gastric cancer cells was constructed by network pharmacology.Key targets of LDGD against the cancer cells were selected by constructing protein-protein interaction network (PPI).Possible biological functions and signal pathways of LDGD against the cancer cells were explored by the GO function and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses.The binding of 8 pharmacodynamic components in LDGD and key anti-gastric cancer targets reported in the literature were analyzed by molecular docking. RESULTS: In the serum pharmacology experiment,30% medicated serum with different proportions of LDGD had significant inhibitory effects on cell viability of AGS but had no significant inhibitory effect on HUVEC.A total of 101 active components of LDGD were obtained,and the key targets of LDGD in the gastric cancer cells were VEGFA,TNF-α,CASP3 and MYC.Bioinformatics enrichment analyses show that LDGD anti-gastric cancer effects may mainly regulate apoptosis signal,oxidative stress and reactive oxygen species response,as well as influence on TNF,p53 and other signal pathways.The results of molecular docking show that glycyrrhizic acid and liquiritin had strong affinity with VEGFA,and 6-gingerol had strong affinity with TNF-α. CONCLUSION: LDGD showed certain antitumor activities on gastric cancer cells.Through network pharmacology and molecular docking,the antitumor activities of LDGD involved regulating oxidative stress and acting on TNF,p53 and other signal pathways.In addition,glycyrrhizic OBJECTIVE: To study effects of Fuzi (aconite) extracts on proliferation and radiosensitization of human lung cancer A549 cells. METHODS: The cells were cultured and were divided into 4 groups:control,Fuzi extract,X-ray-irradiated,and Fuzi plus X-ray-irradiated groups. The control group was given culture medium,the Fuzi extract group was treated with IC₂₀30 μg/mL of Fuzi extract,the radiation group was given X-ray-irradiated,and the Fuzi plus X-ray-irradiated group were first treated with the Fuzi extract and then X-ray. After treatments,cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 assay and colony formation assay was used to measure cell survival. Single-hit multi-target model was used to fit the survival curve and to calculate the sensitive enhancement ratio (SER). Apoptosis rates were detected by flow cytometry,and protein expression levels of Bax and Bcl-2 were detected by Western blot. RESULTS: Fuzi extract concentrations(<20 μg/mL) enhanced viability of A549 cells but increasing concentrations (>30 μg/mL) inhibited growth of the cells in a dose-dependent manner. The shoulder at the beginning of the survival curve in the Fuzi plus X-ray-irradiated group was slightly narrower, and the D₀values in the X-ray-irradiated and Fuzi plus X-ray-irradiated group were 1.83 Gy,1.48 Gy,and the SER was 1.24,respectively. The apoptosis rates were significantly increased in the Fuzi plus X-ray-irradiated group and were higher than that in both the Fuzi and X-ray irradiation groups (P<0.05). The results of Western blot show that protein expressions of Bax were increased but were decreased for Bcl-2 in the Fuzi extract versus the X-ray-irradiated groups. Bax and Bcl-2 protein levels were changed more significantly in the Fuzi plus X-ray-irradiated than the other groups (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Fuzi extract at 30 μg/mL inhibited proliferation and enhanced radiosensitizing effects on human lung cancer A549 cells,and the mechanism may be related to the induction of apoptosis.

Key words: licorice and dried ginger decoction, gastric cancer, serum pharmacology, network pharmacology, molecular docking, molecular mechanism