Extract of Pogostemon cablin Possesses Potent Anticancer Activity against Colorectal Cancer Cells In Vitro and In Vivo

Ju-Huei Chien; Shan-Chih Lee; Kai-Fu Chang; Xiao-Fan Huang; Yi-Ting Chen; Nu-Man Tsai

doi:10.1155/2020/9758156

Extract of Pogostemon cablin Possesses Potent Anticancer Activity against Colorectal Cancer Cells In Vitro and In Vivo

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2020 Sep 9:2020:9758156. doi: 10.1155/2020/9758156. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Ju-Huei Chien^{1

2}, Shan-Chih Lee^{3

4}, Kai-Fu Chang^{5

6}, Xiao-Fan Huang^{5

6}, Yi-Ting Chen⁶, Nu-Man Tsai^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Laboratory Medicine, Taichung Tzu-Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu-Chi Medical Foundation, Taichung 42743, Taiwan.
² Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taichung 40601, Taiwan.
³ Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Medical Imaging, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40201, Taiwan.
⁵ Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Medical Laboratory and Biotechnology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan.
⁷ Clinical Laboratory, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40201, Taiwan.

Abstract

Pogostemon cablin (PCa), an herb used in traditional Chinese medicine, is routinely used in the amelioration of different types of gastrointestinal discomfort. However, the mechanisms underlying the cancer suppression activity of PCa in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells have yet to be clarified. The aim of this study was to investigate the anticancer effects of PCa, specifically the induction of apoptosis in CRC cells. The growth inhibition curve of CRC cells following exposure to PCa was detected by an MTT assay. Moreover, PCa combined with 5-FU revealed a synergic effect of decreased cell viability. PCa inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest at the G₀/G₁ phase and cell apoptosis through regulation of associated protein expression. An in vivo study showed that PCa suppressed the growth of CRC via induction of cell apoptosis with no significant change in body weight or organ histology. Our results demonstrated that PCa inhibits the growth of CRC cells and induces apoptosis in vitro and in vivo, which suggests the potential applicability of PCa as an anticancer agent.