Isoliquiritigenin inhibits tumor growth and protects the kidney and liver against chemotherapy-induced toxicity in a mouse xenograft model of colon carcinoma

A growing amount of attention has been focused on the investigation of the effects of chemopreventive agents on the inhibition of cancer cell growth and toxicity in combination with chemotherapeutics. The objective of this study was to determine whether isoliquiritigenin (ISL) has the potential to serve as a beneficial supplement during cisplatin chemotherapy. We found that the administration of ISL alone significantly reduced the size of the solid tumors in CT-26 cell-inoculated BALB/c mice, without any detectable induction of nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, and oxidative stress, and ISL reduced the viability and DNA synthesis of CT-26 murine colon cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. ISL did not affect the therapeutic efficacy of cisplatin. Furthermore, ISL suppressed cisplatin-induced kidney damage characterized by increases in serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen, as well as cisplatin-induced liver damage characterized by increases in serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. The repeated oral administration of ISL prior to cisplatin treatment exerted a preventive effect on cisplatin-mediated increases in serum nitric oxide and tissue lipid peroxidation levels, and it recovered depleted GSH levels in the tissues. Therefore, supplementation with ISL may be an effective approach to counteracting the side effects of cisplatin therapy in cancer patients.