Inhibitory effects of herbal drugs on the growth of human ovarian cancer cell lines through the induction of apoptosis

Objective. In order to develop and search for more effective and safe treatments for early and advanced stages of ovarian cancer, we examined the direct effects of four extracts of Chinese herbal drugs on ovarian cancer cells in vitro. Methods. The growth inhibition of four herbal drugs on a total of six cell lines of human ovarian cancer cells was determined by a Cell Counting Kit-8 by counting viable cells. Apoptotic cells induced by herbal drugs were detected by using MEBCYTO Apoptosis Kit. All experiments were performed in triplicate. The significance of the difference was analyzed with a two-sided Student's t test. A P value less than 0.05 was accepted as statistically significant. Results. The MN, A2780, and KF cell lines exhibited significant growth inhibition in the presence of Sho-saiko-to concentrations of 150 mu g/ml, 300 mu g/ml, and 500 mu g/ml, respectively, and at the concentration of 1000 mu g/ml, Sho-saiko-to demonstrated a significant apoptotic induction effect on all six kinds of ovarian cancer cell lines. This concentration is the same as the blood concentration attained when 7.5 g of Sho-saiko-to per day is orally administered and all absorbed. Conclusions. Sho-saiko-to exhibited significant growth inhibition of ovarian cancer cell lines, and the mechanisms of the inhibitory effects can be attributed, in part, to apoptosis induced by Sho-saiko-to. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.