Abstract:

Abstract:Objective To explore the expression of caspase-3 in skeletal muscle of the mice in the state of cancer,and to elucidate the relationship between Caspase-3 and apoptosis,consumption of skeletal muscle protein in cancer cachexia.Methods 48 male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into cancer cachexia group and control group （n=24）.The mice in cancer cachexia  group were inoculated with  mouse  colon 26 adenocarcinoma cells.The body weights of the mice in two groups were detected daily.Eight mice in each group were executed to test the weight of left gastrocnemius,fiber crosscut area,the expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-6(IL-6),Caspase-3 proteins and the apoptotic rate of gastrocnemius cells on day 8,14, and 20, respectively.Results The mice in cancer cachexia  group appeared cachectic symptoms on day 14,the non-tumor body weight was decreased more than 20% of that in control group（P<0.05）.Compared with control  group at the same time,the mouse body weight,non-tumor body weight,the weight of left  strocnemius and the fiber crosscut area of the mice  in cancer cachexia  group were obviously decreased with the prolongation of inoculation time （P<0.05）,whereas the expression levels of TNF-α,IL-6,Caspase-3 proteins and the apoptotic rate of muscle cells were obviously increased after tumor inoculation（P<0.05）.The level of Caspase-3 protein was negatively correlated with the weight of gastrocnemius and fiber crosscut area r=0.716,P<0.05;r=－0.694,P<0.05）,and the level of Caspase-3 was positively correlated with the levels of TNF-α and IL-6（r=0.742,P<0.05;r=0.675,P<0.05）.Conclusion Caspase-3 may be a key factor in the protein comsumption of skeletal muscle in cancer cachexia.

Key words: aspase-3, tumor necrosis factor-&alpha, interleukin-6, apoptosis, cancer cachexia