Strobilanthes crispus Juice Concentrations and Anticancer Effects on DNA Damage, Apoptosis and Gene Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Its prevalence isincreasing in many countries. Plant products can be used to protect against cancer due to natural anticancerand chemopreventive constituents. Strobilanthes crispus is one of plants with potential chemopreventive ability.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the anticancer effects of Strobilanthes crispus juice on hepatocellularcarcinoma cells. Materials and
Methods: MTT assays, flow cytometry, comet assays and the reverse transcriptionpolymerasechain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to determine the effects of juice on DNA damage and cancer cellnumbers.
Results: This juice induced apoptosis after exposure of the HepG2 cell line for 72 h. High percentagesof apoptotic cell death and DNA damage were seen at the juice concentrations above 0.1%. It was found thatthe juice was not toxic for normal cells. In addition, juice exposure increased the expression level of c-myc geneand reduced the expression level of c-fos and c-erbB2 genes in HepG2 cells. The cytotoxic effects of juice onabnormal cells were in dose dependent.
Conclusions: It was concluded that the Strobilanthes crispus juice mayhave chemopreventive effects on hepatocellular carcinoma cells.