The effect of Curcuma wenyujin on human HepG2 cancer cell

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer with more than 1 million fatalities occurring annually worldwide. Nowadays in China, the essential oil of Curcuma wenyujin (CWO) has been used as injection to cure paediatric disease such as acute upper respiratory infections, viral myocarditis and acute pneumonia. Inhibitory effects of CWO on SMMC-7721 cell line, cervical cell, L615 cell and K562 cell lines growth have been reported. However, there is no report about inhibitory effect of the essential oil of ezhu in human HepG2 cell growth and the underlying mechanism of action.

A research article to be published on 21 July 2008, in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The research team led by Prof. Simon Ming-Yuen Lee from University of Macau have identified furanodiene, one of ezhu's ingredients, could activate p38 and inhibit of ERK mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling on HepG2 cell and the result suggests the potential value of development of ezhu on treatment of liver diseases. They also attemptd to determine the cytotoxicity of CWO, one of species of ezhu in human hepatoma HepG2 cells and the underlying molecular mechanism of action.

They found that CWO exhibits an antiproliferative effect in HepG2 cell by inducing apoptosis which is associated with cell cycle arrest, cytochrome C translocation, caspase 3 activation, PARP degradation, and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and this process involves mitochondria-caspase dependent apoptosis pathway. As apoptosis has been an important therapeutic target in cancer research, these results suggest the potential valus of development of CWO as a chemotherapeutic agent.

This is the first study to report the biological activity and mechanism of action of CWO on HCC cells. CWO induce apoptosis in HepG2 cells through activation of mitochondrial and caspase-3-pathway and the result suggests the potential value of development of ezhu on treatment of liver diseases and further study on anti-apoptotic effect of CWO may lead to identification of new lead compounds and novel drug targets for treatment of liver cancer and diseases.

Reference: Xiao Y, Yang FQ, Li SP, Hu G, Lee SM, Wang YT. Essential oil of Curcuma wenyujin inhibits growth and induces apoptosis in human HepG2 hepatoma cells through mitochondria-caspase pathway. World J Gastroenterol 2008; 14(27): 4309-4318
http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/14/4309.asp

Correspondence to: Simon Ming-Yuen Lee, Dr, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Av. Padre Tomas Pereira, S.J., Taipa, Macao, China. simonlee@umac.mo
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World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection and provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2003-2000 IF: 3.318, 2.532, 1.445 and 0.993. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day of every month. WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the name of China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.

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