Antitumor and Apoptosis Induction Effects of Paeonol on Mice Bearing EMT6 Breast Carcinoma

Antitumor and Apoptosis Induction Effects of Paeonol on Mice Bearing EMT6 Breast Carcinoma

Paeonol is a major phenolic micromolecular component of Moutan cortex Radicis, a traditional Chinese Medicine. It has shownantitumor effects in previous studies; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. This study investigated the mechanismby giving treatments of placebo, cyclophosphamide, paeonol of 150 and 300 mg/kg to 4 groups of mice bearing EMT6 breastcancer. Apoptosis in tumor cells were confi rmed by morphology analysis, including hematoxylin, eosin staining and TUNEL staining. The results showed that the weight of EMT6 breast tumor was signifi cantly reduced in the groups treated with both 150 and300 mg/kg of paeonol. Immunohistochemical and Western blot results showed that the expression of Bcl-2 was down-regulatedwhile the expression of Bax, caspase 8 and caspase 3 was up-regulated respectively. These results suggest that paeonol exhibitsantitumor effects and the mechanism of the inhibition is via induction of apoptosis, regulation of Bcl-2 and Bax expression, andactivation of caspase 8 and caspase 3.

Paeonol is a major phenolic micromolecular component of Moutan cortex Radicis, a traditional Chinese Medicine. It has shownantitumor effects in previous studies; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. This study investigated the mechanismby giving treatments of placebo, cyclophosphamide, paeonol of 150 and 300 mg/kg to 4 groups of mice bearing EMT6 breastcancer. Apoptosis in tumor cells were confi rmed by morphology analysis, including hematoxylin, eosin staining and TUNEL staining. The results showed that the weight of EMT6 breast tumor was signifi cantly reduced in the groups treated with both 150 and300 mg/kg of paeonol. Immunohistochemical and Western blot results showed that the expression of Bcl-2 was down-regulatedwhile the expression of Bax, caspase 8 and caspase 3 was up-regulated respectively. These results suggest that paeonol exhibitsantitumor effects and the mechanism of the inhibition is via induction of apoptosis, regulation of Bcl-2 and Bax expression, andactivation of caspase 8 and caspase 3.