The Japanese herbal medicine Hangeshashinto enhances oral keratinocyte migration to facilitate healing of chemotherapy-induced oral ulcerative mucositis

Kanako Miyano, Moeko Eto, Suzuro Hitomi, Takashi Matsumoto, Seiya Hasegawa, Ayane Hirano, Kaori Nagabuchi, Noriho Asai, Miaki Uzu, Miki Nonaka, Yuji Omiya, Atsushi Kaneko, Kentaro Ono, Hideaki Fujii, Yoshikazu Higami, Toru Kono, Yasuhito Uezono

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Chemotherapy often induces oral ulcerative mucositis (OUM) in patients with cancer, characterized by severe painful inflammation. Mouth-washing with the Japanese herbal medicine hangeshashinto (HST) ameliorates chemotherapy-induced OUM in patients with colorectal cancer. Previously, we demonstrated that HST decreased interleukin 1β-induced prostaglandin E2 production in human oral keratinocytes (HOKs) and OUM-induced mechanical or spontaneous pain in rats. However, HST effects on tissue repair functions in HOKs remain unclear. Here, we examined the effects of HST on scratch-induced wound healing in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, HST enhanced wound healing mainly through scratch-induced HOK migration. Screening of the seven constituent medicinal herbs and their major components revealed that Scutellaria root, processed ginger, and Glycyrrhiza components mainly induced the scratch-induced HOK migration. Pharmacokinetic analyses indicated that the active ingredient concentrations in rat plasma following oral HST administration were below the effective doses for HOK migration, suggesting direct effects of HST in OUM. Mitogen-activated protein kinase and C-X-C chemokine receptor 4 inhibitors significantly suppressed HST-induced HOK migration. Moreover, HST enhanced tissue repair in our OUM rat model. Thus, HST likely enhanced OUM tissue repair through oral keratinocyte migration upon MAPK and CXCR4 activation and may be useful in patients with cancer-associated OUM.

Original languageEnglish
Article number625
JournalScientific Reports
Volume10
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2020
Externally publishedYes

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