Anti-cancer effect of pharmacologic ascorbate and its interaction with supplementary parenteral glutathione in preclinical cancer models.
Source
Program in Integrative Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA.
Abstract
Two popular complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine therapies, high-dose intravenous ascorbic acid (AA) and intravenous glutathione (GSH), are often coadministered to cancer patients with unclear efficacy and drug-drug interaction. In this study we provide the first survey evidence for clinical use of iv GSH with iv AA. To address questions of efficacy and drug-drug interaction, we tested 10 cancer cell lines with AA, GSH, and their combination. The results showed that pharmacologic AA induced cytotoxicity in all tested cancer cells, with IC(50) less than 4 mM, a concentration easily achievable in humans. GSH reduced cytotoxicity by 10-95% by attenuating AA-induced H(2)O(2) production. Treatment in mouse pancreatic cancer xenografts showed that intraperitoneal AA at 4 g/kg daily reduced tumor volume by 42%. Addition of intraperitoneal GSH inhibited the AA-induced tumor volume reduction. Although all treatments (AA, GSH, and AA+GSH) improved survival rate, AA+GSH inhibited the cytotoxic effect of AA alone and failed to provide further survival benefit. These data confirm the pro-oxidative anti-cancer mechanism of pharmacologic AA and suggest that AA and GSH administered together provide no additional benefit compared with AA alone. There is an antagonism between ascorbate and glutathione in treating cancer, and therefore iv AA and iv GSH should not be coadministered to cancer patients on the same day.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21672627
[Therapeutic effect of intravenous high-dose vitamin C on implanted hepatoma in rats].
Source
Department of Pathophysiology, Medical College of Jinan University, and Clifforo Hospital, Guangzhou 510632, China. 13798054571zt@163.com
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To study the therapeutic effect of intravenous high-dose vitamin C on implanted hepatoma in rats.
METHODS:
The rats bearing implanted Walker-256 hepatoma were treated with high-dose vitamin C at 2.83 and 5.65 g/kg intravenously, and the general condition, liver functions (A/G, ALT, AST, GGT), tumor volume, and tumor growth of the rats were evaluated.
RESULTS:
The A/G of the rats treated with 2.83 g/kg vitamin C was significantly higher, but the ALT and GCT were significantly lower than those of the model rats (P<0.05 or 0.01). The ALT level in rats with 5.65 g/kg vitamin C treatment was significantly lower than that of the model rats (P<0.05). The tumor necrosis rate was significantly higher in rats with 2.83 g/kg vitamin C treatment than in the model rats (P<0.05).
CONCLUSION:
Intravenous administration of 2.83 g/kg vitamin C can promote the necrosis and apoptosis of hepatoma Walker256 cells in rats and protect the liver function of the tumor-bearing rats.
