Background: To research the impact of a Chinese traditional medicine (Citrus aurantium L.) on gastric cancer proliferation and mice gastrointestinal motility. Materials and Methods: The intestinal transit rates (ITRs) and gastric emptying (GE) values in mice with experimentally induced gastrointestinal motility dysfunction (GMD) and in normal mice were calculated to research the in vivo influences of C. aurantium L. on gastrointestinal motility. CCK-8 was used to examined the effect of C. aurantium L. on gastric cancer proliferation. Results: The GE and ITR values were dose-dependently and notably added by C. aurantium L. in normal ICR mice (with 1 g/kg C. aurantium L., ITR values: 53.3% ± 0.8% versus 64.3% ± 0.9% and 53.3% ± 0.8% versus 79.8% ± 2.0%, p < 0.01; GE values: 59.3% ± 0.8% versus 70.1% ± 1.9% and 59.9% ± 0.8% versus 69.9% ± 2.1%, p < 0.01). Compared with the normal mice, the GMD mice's ITRs were notably declined; however, C. aurantium L. could dose-dependently and significantly reverse it. In addition, in the model of delayed GE induced by loperamide and cisplatin, C. aurantium L. administration reversed the GE deficit. Furthermore, C. aurantium L. significantly reduced gastric cancer proliferation. Conclusion: The results indicate that C. aurantium L. could become a new drug for gastrointestinal prokinetic and gastric cancer therapy.
Keywords: Citrus aurantium L.; gastric cancer; gastrointestinal disorders; motility; proliferation.