Anti-tumor activities of extracts from the medicinal plants Pinellia ternata and Pinellia pedatisecta

Objectives: To compare anti-tumor activities of different extracts from the medicinal plants Pinella ternata and its allied species.Methods: MTT cell proliferation assay was used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of the extracts on Bel-7402, HT-29, Hela cells. FCM assay and DNA fragmentation analysis were used to detect cell apoptosis. Immunohistochemical SABC method was performed for detection of the expression of Caspase-3 in HeLa cells. And the content of succinic acid in the rhizomes of plants was determined by HPLC, which was used to control the quality of these medicinal plants. Results: The active part was mainly composed of the ethyl acetate extracts or the fraction of total organic acid, and components from Rhizoma Pinelliae and Rhizoma Pinellia Pedatisectae were more active than that from Rhizoma Typhonii Flagelliforme. The ethyl acetate extracts from Rhizoma Pinellia Pedatisectae could inhibit Bel-7402 cell growth and induce cell apoptosis in a dosage-dependent manner. A further study showed that the anti-tumor effect of extracts from Rhizoma Penillia Pedatisectae was related to cell cycle arrest in S phase and Caspase-3 induced apoptosis. Conclusion: Rhizoma Pinelliae, Rhizoma Pinellia Pedatisectae and Rhizoma Typhonii Flagelliforme all have anti-tumor activities, while Rhizoma Penillia Pedatisectae showed stronger anti-tumor activities, which could be explained by their induction of cell apoptosis.