Abstract
The chemopreventive effects of seven Chinese herbs against hepatocarcinogenesis were evaluated in vitro. The water extracts from Scutellaria barbata and Hedyotis diffusa among the seven herbs as well as Curcuma zedoaria (positive control), strongly inhibited cell growth of four human hepatoma cell lines; HuH-7 (p53 mutant), PLC/PRF/5 (p53 mutant), HepG2 (p53 wild-type) and Hep3B (p53 null). These two extracts also induced apoptotic cell death of these cell lines, as evaluated by DNA fragmentation and chromatin condensation. It is suggested that these Chinese herb extracts might contain active components which are able to induce apoptosis independent of the p53-induced process.
