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 microg/ml, 300 microg/ml, and 500 microg/ml, respectively, and at the concentration of 1000 microg/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.
Zhu
Kun
K
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, 880 kita-Kobayashi, Mibu, Shimotsuga, 321-0293 Tochigi, Japan. k-zhu@dokkyomed.ac.jp
Fukasawa
Ichio
I
Furuno
Makiko
M
Inaba
Fujiyuki
F
Yamazaki
Tatsuo
T
Kamemori
Tetsu
T
Kousaka
Nobuaki
N
Ota
Yoriko
Y
Hayashi
Masatoshi
M
Maehama
Toshiyuki
T
Inaba
Noriyuki
N
D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D048708:Cell Growth Processes / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods*
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; C402943:bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang; C461320:shosaiko-to