非小細胞肺癌大約站肺部的原發性惡性腫瘤的80％，而且一般被認為這些患者對化學治療與放射治療沒有很好的反應，手術開刀的五年存活率也大約僅有40%左右。在本實驗中，我們探討從木蘭科植物厚朴中純化分離出的淬取物---和厚朴酚(honokiol)之對抗人類肺癌細胞的效應。經由我們的實驗發現，和厚朴酚將會誘發人類肺癌細胞(A549 cell)的細胞凋亡，另外和厚朴酚也會使得肺癌細胞(A549 cell)粒線體的作用改變，以及粒線體上Bax and Bak蛋白的向上調控，Bcl-XL蛋白的向下調控。更重要的，在肺癌細胞荷瘤動物模型之實驗中，我們給予免疫抑制小鼠連續21天的腹膜內注射和厚朴酚(1.5 mg/kg)，結果顯示很明顯的腫瘤抑制效應。除此之外，我們也同給予使用電針足三里(2 Hz)以及電針足三里(2 Hz)合併連續21天的腹膜內注射和厚朴酚的兩組實驗，此實驗發現合併電針足三里與腹膜內注射和厚朴酚比單純給和厚朴酚的腫瘤抑制率更高，而單純電針足三里並未能使腫瘤抑制。因此，本實驗闡明了和厚朴酚是在治療肺癌上一新興的抗癌藥物，而電針足三里將會加成擴大和厚朴酚抗癌的化學效應。
Non-small cell lung cancer is a affects approximately 80% of all lung malignant primary tumor that responds poorly to both chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In the present study, we investigated the anticancer effect of a honokiol, an active component isolated and purified from the Magnolia officinalis in human lung cells. Honokiol induced cell apoptosis in human lung cancer cell lines (A549 cell). Honokiol also induces upregulation of Bax and Bak, downregulation of Bcl-XL and dysfunction of mitochondrial in lung cancer cells. Importantly, animal studies have revealed a dramatic reduction in tumor volume after 21 days of treatment. Besides, electroacupuncture zusanli acupoint (ST36) combined with intraperitoneal injection of Honokiol inhibits tumour growth in the mouse xenograft model of A549 cells. This study demonstrates that honokiol may be a novel anticancer agent for the treatment of lung cancer cells and electroacupuncture could amplify the chemo-therapeutic effect in lung cancer treatment.
