a b s t r a c t
Corn silk is a well known traditional Chinese herbal medicine and corn silk polysaccharides (CSP) possess
multiple pharmacological activities. However, the antitumor effect of CSP on hepatocarcinoma has not
been studied. This study aimed to investigate the effects of CSP on tumor growth and immune functions in
H22 hepatocarcinoma tumor-bearing mice. The results demonstrated that CSP could not only inhibit the
tumor growth, but also extended the survival time of H22 tumor-bearing mice. Besides, CSP administration
could increase the body weight, peripheral white blood cells (WBC) count, thymus index and spleen
index of H22 tumor-bearing mice. Furthermore,the production of serum cytokines in H22 tumor-bearing
mice, such as IL-2, IL-6 and TNF-, was enhanced by CSP treatment. In addition, no toxicological effects
were observed on hepatic function and renal function in CSP-treated mice transplanted H22 tumor cells.
In summary, this experimental finding indicated that CSP could elevate the immune functions in H22
tumor-bearing mice to enhance its antitumor activity and CSP seems to be a safe and effective agent for
the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.