Comparative study on inhibiting proliferation of HepG2 cells by matrine and oxmatrine

PurposeTo observe the differences of the effects and the possible mechanisms in the inducing apoptosis and inhibiting proliferation by matrine and oxmatrine in HepG2 cells.MethodsHepG2 cells were treated by different doses of matrine and oxmatrine. The suppressive effect of matrine on the proliferation of HepG2 cells was observed by MTT test and cell counts. The apoptosis and cell cycle were observed by flow cytometric assay and TUNEL in situ assay. The expression of Bcl-2 and Bax were investigated with immunohistochemical analysis.Resultsin the concentration of 0.8 g/L could inhibit the proliferation of HepG2 cells (the 3-day survival rate was 51%).Matrine in the concentration of 1.5 g/L could induce apoptosis obviously. The expression of Bax gene was increased and that of Bcl-2 gene was suppressed. Most of the cells were blocked in the S phage. On the other hand, Oxmatrine could not inhibit the proliferation of the HepG2 cells at the same doses. The 1.5 g/L for 3-day cell survival rate was 84.2%. The apoptosis peak of cells did not appear until the dose of oxmatrine was up to 8.0 g/L.ConclusionThe effect of matrine inducing apoptosis and inhibiting proliferation of HepG2 cells in vitro is stronger than that of oxmatrine.It regulates the expression of gene associated with the apoptosis and when the dose of oxmatrine was 6 times more than that of matrine, apoptosis peak appears in the cells.