A Preliminary Study on the Effect of Clostridium sporogenes on the Volume of HT29 Tumor Xenografts in Immunosuppressed Mice (Mus musculus L.)

Abstract

Acute bacterial infection has been known to induce regression in solid malignant tumors. This study aimed to determine if Clostridium sporogenes possessed antitumor activity against HT29 human colon adenocarcinoma xenografts. Endospores numbering approximately 10° suspended in 0.1 mL of phosphate-buffered saline solution were injected intratumorally into tumors grown for 5 days in Cyclosporine-i ysuppressed female BALB/c mice. Tumor volume was measured using a ruler once daily for 3 days. An untreated tumor, and tumors treated for 24, 48, and 72 hours were excised, cut into serial cross-sections, and stained with hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) for histopathological analysis. The results revealed that the introduction of C. sporogenes caused a decrease in the volume of HT29 tumors by at least 50% and at most 83.33% daily, for 3 days. The control tumor contained numerous tumor cell nests while the tumor treated for 24 hours contained no tumor cells and exhibited a high degree of acute inflammation induced by the presence of C. sporogenes. The tumors treated for 48 and 72 hours exhibited signs of repair and considerably _ less inflammation. The inflammatory response could be the reason for the observed antitumor activity of C. sporogenes.