Abstract
Introduction: Pancreatic cancer (PC) ranks seventh among cancer-related fatalities globally due to its dismal prognosis. The damp-heat syndrome is considered one of the most crucial syndromes associated with pancreatic cancer in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). And there is growing evidence of research indicating that the gut microbiome co-evolves and changes during the course and development of PC. Nevertheless, there exist a noteworthy deficiency in comprehension in the modeling method and the characteristics of gut microbiome on model mice with damp-heat syndrome.
Methods: This study induced damp-heat syndrome with two methodologies and evaluated by survival rate, the appearance, activity status, abdominal fat, intestinal histology of the mice. Subsequently, PC cells were injected into mice with damp-heat syndrome to explore the effects of damp-heat syndrome on tumor growth. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS. Additionally, intestinal bacteria were analyzed to further confirm the holistic impact of damp-heat syndrome on model mice using QIIME2. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: The modeling method combined with climate chamber and a diet high in sugar and fat was better with advantages of mice-friendly features, good stability and simple operation. This study verified that the promotion role of damp-heat syndrome on pancreatic cancer. Additionally, different intestinal flora markers were identified in the four subgroups: o_Lactobacillus in the control group, g_Treponema in the model group, g_Allobaculum in the CDHS group, and g_Coprobacillusin the CC group. Gammaproteobacteria at the order level and Enterobacteralesat the class level were significantly elevated in mice with damp-heat syndrome.
Discussion: This study established a damp-heat syndrome mouse model with pancreatic cancer successfully. Cancer-associated fibroblasts proliferation and alterations in intestinal flora contributed to the tumor-supportive effect of damp-heat syndrome on PC.