Effects of allicin on human gastric cancer cell line MGC803

Objective To study antitumor mechanisms of allicin on human gastric cancer cell line MGC803 in vitro.Methods Cell suppression rates were detected by MTT assay,cell cycle were measured by flow cytometry,bcl-2 and bax protein expressions were detected by immunohistochemistry.Results The cellular suppression rates detected with 2μg/ml allicin for 24h and 72h,were 14.01%±2.36% and 50.57%±7.01% respectively;with 8μg/ml allicin,the rates increased to 35.42%±5.55% and 89.66%±19.92%.The ratio of G0/G1 phase cells was decreased,but the G2/M phase cells was increased when treated with 2μg/ml?4μg/ml?8μg/ml allicin for 24h.bcl-2 protein expression was down-regulated but bax protein expression was up-regulated when treated with 2μg/ml?4μg/ml?8μg/ml allicin.Conclusions Allicin can inhibit the growth of human gastric cancer MGC803 cell by inducing cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase,which may be related to the down-regulated expression of bcl-2 protein and up-regulated expression of bax protein.