The Synergistic Anti-tumor Effects of Evodiamine based on Animal Model Experiments: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: Evodiamine (EVO) is an alkaloid extracted from the dried and nearly ripe fruits of Euodia rutaecarpa and used as an anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity agent. However, robust evidence of preclinical experiments has been lacking so far. Therefore, the purpose of this article was to investigate the effect of EVO in combination with other treatments on tumors in animal experiments. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to assess the anti-tumor effect of evodiamine-combined therapy. The search engine and electronic databases included PubMed, Scopus, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database (CNKI), and SinoMed. The research method was based on the PRISMA checklist. Results: A total of 7 studies and 108 animals were included. As a result, EVO combined therapy was found to be more effective than EVO monotherapy. The SMD was -25.64(95% CI: -5.77 -3.13) in tumor growth. In tumor weight, the SMD was -8.91(95% CI: -16.37, -1.44). Conclusion: EVO has the potential to alleviate the toxicity of chemotherapeutic agents, which increases the translatability to the clinical situation.