Apoptotic inducibility of Sapindus rarax water extract on A549 human lung cancer cell line

Abstract

Sapindus rarak DC., Thai herbal medicine named "Ma-Gum-Dee-Kwao" in Sapindaceae family, has been widely prescribed in treatment of skin diseases and also combination with several herbal plants to treat various diseases including malignancies. Bio-based assay of water extract from S. rarak on two human breast cancer cell lines, T47D and MCF7; two human lung cancer cell lines, A549 and SK-LU1; and one colon cancer cell line, Caco-2 was investigated. We observed a significant growth inhibition only in A549 cell line with ED 50 value 84.194 ± 2.597 μg/ml. Cell cycle analysis and apoptotic study were performed in A549 human lung cancer cell line and found significant increase of apoptotic cells without significant changes in cell cycle phase. Mechanism of apoptotic induction was demonstrated using Western blotting and indicated that the caspase pathway was involved in herb signal pathway. In summary, the extract-induced apoptosis of A549 cells was primarily mediated through caspase dependent pathway especially caspase 3 and 9 which suggested that S. rarak water extract might be a potential anticancer agent against human lung cancer cell line. This research might also be a hypothesis generating study in the future. ©2011 Academic Journals.