Oleanolic acid from Prunella Vulgaris L. induces SPC-A-1 cell line apoptosis via regulation of Bax, Bad and Bcl-2 expression.

Prunella vulgaris L. (PV) has been used as a herb for chemoprevention of lung cancer. In this study, the main active compound, oleanolic acid (OA) was isolated from an ethanol extract and its chemical structure was identified according to the results of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrography (LC-MS). Results for cell viability indictated no notable differences between OA and ethanol extract of PV in lung adenocarcinoma SPC-A-1 cells measured by MTT assay. Consistent concentration-response curves. Fluorescence detection with acridine orange-ethidium bromide was used to evaluate apoptosis of SPC-A-1 cells. OA at 16 and 8 microM group increased significantly the apoptosis rate compared with normal and 1% DMSO groups (p<0.05). In addition, immunocytochemistry assays showed increase in Bax and Bad protein expression while Bcl-2 decreased. Moreover, the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 was heightened by OA treatment. The results suggest OA induced apoptosis of lung adenocarcinoma cells through down-regulating Bcl-2 expression, and up-regulating Bax and Bad expression.