Inhibitory effects of four Chinese herbal medicines on oral squamous cancer cell lines

Abstract

We examined the inhibitory effect of Gypenoside (GP), Baicalia (BC), Salvia miltiorrhiza (SM), and Erigeron breviscapus (EB) to determine whether Chinese herbal medicines are effective against oral cancer. Phenazine methosulfate-methyl thiazoly tetrazolium (PMSMTT) assay was performed on the oral squamous cancer cell lines Tca-8113 and CAL-27. The ID 50 of the four Chinese herbal medicines was calculated. We found that BC and EB were the most effective. The ID 50 values for Tca-8113 and CAL-27 of BC were 128.63μmol/L and 117.79μmol/L, respectively. They were 223.18μmol/L and 1010.98μmol/L, respectively for EB. The ID 50 for the combined effect of BC and EB, was 27.131μmol/L for Tca-8113 and 20.674μmol/L for CAL-27. Thus BC and EB had a synergistic effect in inhibiting Tca-8113 and CAL-27 (CI<1).