study of immunomodulatory effects of arteether administrated intratumorally.

recent studies have indicated the profound  anti-tumor activity of artemisinin's compounds,  among  which;  arteether  is an  oil-soluble derivative of  artemisinin with an endoperoxide bridge that can induce apoptosis in tumor cells but not in the normal cells. an experiment was carried out on tumor-bearing balb/c mice to estimate the effects of arteether  on  tumor  growth  and  antitumor  immune  responses.  briefly, 6mg/kg/day  of arteether and diluents were administered to two groups of mice. tumor sizes were measured using  digital verniercallipers. mice were  sacrificed and  splenocytes  were  harvested  for lymphocyte proliferation assay, the level of il-4 and ifn-γ cytokines, and the percentage of splenic t regulatory cells were measured. according to the findings, there were no statistical differences between the groups with respect to the level of ifn-γ, il-4 and proliferation assay; while our results showed that arteether is effective in the reduction of tumor growth rate. in general, intra-tumoral injection of arteether as an oil-soluble derivative of artemisinin brings to light some antitumor properties that may aid in development of more effective antitumor agents.