[Anti-proliferation and chemo-sensitization effects of apigenin on human lung cancer cells].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the antitumor effect of apigenin on human lung cancer cells.

METHODS

The anti-proliferation and sensitization effects of apigenin on human lung cancer cells was accessed by counting cells after Trypan blue staining and MTS assay.

RESULTS

(1) Apigenin significantly suppressed the proliferation of four types of human lung cancer cells (A549:P=0.041, H460:P=0.050, LTEP-a2:P=0.039, H292:P=0.016); (2) Apigenin significantly increased the susceptibility of human lung cancer cells to antitumor drugs (P<0.05 or P<0.01) in a synergistic way (almost all of the combination index values are less than 1).

CONCLUSIONS

Apigenin widely inhibits cell proliferation of various lung cancer cell lines in a dose-dependent manner and the combination treatment of apigenin and antitumor drugs is very effective in human lung cancer cells, and Nrf2-ARE pathway may contribute to the mechanism.