Effect of β-Carotene on Immunity Function and Tumour Growth in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Rats.docVIP

Molecules 2012, 17, 8595-8603; doi:10.3390/moleculeOPEN ACCESS molecules ISSN 1420-3049 /journal/molecules Article Effect of β-Carotene on Immunity Function and Tumour Growth in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Rats Bokang Cui ?, Su Liu ?, Qibo Wang and Xiaojun Lin * Department of Hepatobiliary Oncology, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, 651 Dongfeng East Road, Guangzhou 510060, Guangdong, China ? These authors contributed equally to this work. * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: linxj@; Tel./Fax: +86-20-8734-3017. Received: 15 May 2012; in revised form: 26 June 2012 / Accepted: 5 July 2012 / Published: 18 July 2012 Abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate the anticancer and immunity activity of β-carotene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) rats. Three days after transplantation, forty Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups, each group consisting of 10 animals. These groups were control group (untreated), low-dose β-carotene-treated group (20 mg/kg), middle-dose group (40 mg/kg) and high-dose (60 mg/kg) group. β-Carotene-treated groups were fed with β-carotene (20, 40, 60 mg/kg b.w.) orally for 30 days. Control group was treated with the same volume of physiological saline. Another ten rats were served as the normal group. Results showed that 30 days of β-carotene treatment could significantly inhibit tumour growth, enhance blood NK, IL-2, TNF-α, WBC, TP, ALB and A/G levels, and decrease blood ALT, AST and ALP activities in HCC rats. Pathological analysis of liver tissue showed that β-carotene treatment may decrease damage of liver tissue in HCC rats. It can be concluded that β-carotene may improve the immunity function and inhibit tumour growth in HCC rats. Keywords: β-carotene; immunity function; extraction; ALT; AST  Molecules 2012, 17 8596 1. Introduction Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fi