Anticancer Effects of Crude Extract from Melia toosendan Sieb. et Zucc on Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Vitro and In Vivo

• Published in: Chinese journal of integrative medicine Vol. 22; no. 5; pp. 362 - 369
• Main Author: 刘小玲 王虹 张伶 王友良 王进 王鹏 贺潇 何於娟
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.05.2016
• Subjects: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Apoptosis - drug effects; bcl-2-Associated X Protein - metabolism; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - drug therapy; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - pathology; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - ultrastructure; Cell Proliferation - drug effects; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - chemistry; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - therapeutic use; fas Receptor - metabolism; Female; Immunohistochemistry; Liver Neoplasms - drug therapy; Liver Neoplasms - pathology; Liver Neoplasms - ultrastructure; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Melia - chemistry; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mitochondria - drug effects; Mitochondria - metabolism; Neoplasm Transplantation; Original Article; Plant Extracts - therapeutic use; Reference Standards; SMMC-7721细胞; 体内实验; 体外实验; 山茱萸; 川楝子; 抗癌作用; 粗提取物; 肝细胞癌; SMMC-7721 cell; anti-cancer activity; Hep3B cell; murine hepatocellular carcinoma; crude extract; Melia toosendan Sieb. et Zucc
• ISSN: 1672-0415; 1993-0402; 1993-0402
• DOI: 10.1007/s11655-015-2084-7

Objective： To investigate the anti-cancer effects of crude extract from Melia toosendan Sieb. et Zucc and its possible molecular mechanisms in vitro and in vivo. Methods： Transonic alcohol-chloroform extraction method was used to extract toosendanin from the bark of Melia toosendan Sieb. et Zucc, and the content of toosendanin in the crude extract was measured by high performance liquid chromatography （HPLC）. Anti-cancer effects of crude extract from Melia toosendan Sieb. et Zucc were investigated in in vivo and in vitro studies. In the in vitro experiment, human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines SMMC-7721 and Hep3B were co-incubated with toosendanin crude extract of different concentrations, respectively. In the in vivo experiment, BALB/c mice were subcutaneously inoculated with mouse hepatocellular carcinoma H22 cells and treated with crude extract. Results： HPLC revealed the content of toosendanin was about 15%. Crude extract from Melia toosendan Sieb. et Zucc inhibited cancer cells growth in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The 50% inhibitory concentration （IC50, 72 h） was 0.6 mg/L for SMMC-7721 cells and 0.8 mg/L for Hep3B cells. Both high-dose [0.69 mg/（kg·d）] and low-dose [0.138 mg/（kg·d）] crude extract could markedly suppress cancer growth, and the inhibition rate was greater than 50%. Hematoxylin and eosin staining showed necrotic area in cancers and transmission electron microscopy displayed necrotic and apoptotic cancer cells with apoptotic bodies. Immunohistochemistry showed that the expression of Bax and Fas increased and the expression of Bcl-2 reduced. Conclusions： Toosendanin extract has potent anti-cancer effects via suppressing proliferation and inducing apoptosis of cancer cells in vivo and in vitro. The mechanism of apoptosis involves in mitochondrial pathway and death receptor pathway.