Multidrug resistance has long been a hassle for many pharmacologists. South Korean researchers found that PPT ginsenosides can reverse multidrug resistance.
Chemotherapy is currently one of the most often used anticancer treatments in clinical practices. Despite brilliant contributions to combating cancer cells, this treatment still faces side effects. More noticeably, A frequent use of anticancer drugs will lead to an insensitive response to cancer cells, just as bacteria gradually develop a resistant propriety to antibiotics. Faced with this tricky challenge in treating cancers, a huge number of researchers are all along working on the study of how to deactivate drug resistance limiting the efficacies of chemotherapy.
P-glycoprotein, known as multidrug resistance protein, is served as a carrier in humans which transports a wide variety of substrates across extra- and intracellular membranes. Unfortunately, some pharmaceutical drugs, a potential substrate, are pumped out, thus leading to a difficulty in drug absorbency and resistance. Some cancer can express large quantities of P-glycoprotein which make poor performances of anticancer drugs.
Inspiringly, Some drugs reportedly can inhibit P-glycoprotein and ginsenosides show this possibility. South Korean researchers from Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Chosun University explored whether or not ginsenosides could reverse multidrug resistance mediated by P-Glycoprotein. They chose the daunorubicin- and doxorubicin-resistant acute myelogenous leukemia sublines (AML-2/D100 and AML-2/DX100) to test the effect of ginsenosides, finding that PPT Ginsenosides showed cytotoxicity in both sublines and were able to reverse resistance in the AML-2/D100 subline in a concentration-dependent manner.
The research indicates that PPT ginsenosides can inhabit the mechanism of action of P-glycoprotein, helping intracellular accumulation of drugs. In addition to this, studies show PPT ginsenosides present anticancer activities. This means that PPT ginsenosides are promising candidates for anticancer treatment and can be used together with anticancer drugs to combat cancerous cells.
