Preliminary study on mechanism of apoptosis of hepatic stellate cells induced by curcumin

Objective To investigate the effect of curcumin on apoptosis of hepatic stellate cell (HSC) in vitro.Methods Rat HSC cell line (HSC-T6) was incubated with different concentrations of curcumin.The effects of curcumin on HSC-T6 apoptosis were identified by flow cytometry and electro- phoresis.The expression changes of apoptosis-regulating proteins of Fas,P53 and Bcl-2 in HSC-T6 cells were examined by immunohistochemical staining.ResuLts After treating HSC-T6 with curcumin at con- centration of 20,30,40μmol/L for 24 hs,apoptosis index (%) of HSC-T6 as (11.61±2.79)%, (52.03±4.38)%,(87.11±12.62)%,respectively,which were significantly higher than (3.81±0.64)% in control group (P＜0.05).An oligonucleosomal DNA ladder of curcumin-treated cells was demonstrated.Incubated HSC T6 with curcumin 20μmol/L for 24 hs,the positive expression rates of apoptosis-regulating protein of Fas,P53 and Bel-2 were significantly difference from that of control group[(87.40±2.84)% vs (33.12±3.13)%,(43.14±7.33)% vs (20.61±7.22)%,(28.73±5.91)% vs (95.41±3.64)%,respectively](P＜0.05).Conclusions Curcumin can significantly in- duce the apoptosis of HSC.The mechanism of curcumin in inducing HSC apoptosis may be associated with up regulating expressions of Fas,P53 and down-regulating expressions of Bcl-2 on HSC.