Ginsenoside CK Inhibits Lung Metastasis

As described previously [26 (link), 27 (link)], male BALB/c nude mice (Beijing HFK Bio-Technology, Beijing, China) were injected via the tail vein with A549 cells (1 × 10⁶ cell/mouse). The mice from each group were anesthetized by exposure to 3% isoflurane and intraperitoneally injected with XenoLight D-Luciferin Potassium Salt (150 mg·kg⁻¹) every 7 days for up to 21 days. After 15 min, the photons emitted from the tumor were monitored using a Bruker In Vivo Xtreme (Bruker, Billerica, MA, USA). Nude mice were orally administered 10 mg·kg⁻¹ and 20 mg·kg⁻¹ ginsenoside CK for 3 weeks. Nude mice were sacrificed at the end of the experiment, after which their lungs were removed and fixed in 10% formalin.
The experimental design was in strict accordance with the principles and guidelines recommended by the Committee for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of Changchun University of Chinese Medicine (Changchun, China) and approved by the Ethics Committee of Changchun University of Chinese Medicine. Male nude mice were provided by Beijing HFK Bio-Technology (Beijing, China).