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Studies on Anti-Hepatoma Effect of Gan-Ai-Xiao Decoction


JL Yuan
SM Wang
T Lan
JZ Liu
GH Wang
QS Sun
H Chen

Abstract

Purpose: To explore the anti-hepatoma effect of Gan-Ai-Xiao Decoction (GAXD), a folk remedy.

Methods: High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to identify the major chemical components of GAXD ethanol extract (EE). The cytotoxic effect of GAXD EE against HepG2 cells was measured by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay. Flow cytometry and Western blot were used to study the effect of GAXD EE on apoptosis and apoptotic proteins (Bcl-2, Bax and caspase-3) in HepG2 cells. Xenograft assay was used to evaluate the anti-hepatoma effect of GAXD EE in vivo.

Results: Four components were identified in GAXD EE by HPLC. The results of MTT and flow cytometry assays indicated that GAXD EE significantly reduced HepG2 cells viability (p < 0.05) and induced its apoptosis. The results of Western blot assay suggested that GAXD EE down-regulated the expression of anti-apoptotic protein (Bcl-2) and up-regulated the expression of pro-apoptotic proteins (Bax and caspase-3) in HepG2 cells. Furthermore, the results of xenograft assay showed that GAXD EE significantly inhibited the growth of HepG2 cells-induced tumor (p < 0.05) without any effect on the body weight of nude mice.

Conclusion: GAXD has anti-hepatoma activity, and the mechanism is associated with apoptosis.

Keywords: Gan-Ai-Xiao Decoction, Anti-hepatoma, Flow Cytometry, Western Blot, Xenograft, HepG2 cells, Apoptosis


Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 1596-9827
print ISSN: 1596-5996