فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Background and objectives: Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common liver cancer in the world. Lifestyle, hepatitis viruses and liver diseases are among the most probable risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma. Natural products have recently been the focus of liver cancer investigations. Among different classes of secondary metabolites, sesquiterpene lactones are of high interest. Previously, several cancer cell lines have shown susceptibility to gaillardin, a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from Inula oculus-christi. In the present research, the ability of gaillardin to induce apoptosis in HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma was evaluated. Methods: The cytotoxicity was measured with MTT assay. Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis were used to assess the pro- and anti- apoptotic genes and proteins. Results: MTT assay results showed that gaillardin reduced the viability of HepG2 cells (IC50 11.4 µM) and increased the expression levels of caspase 3, caspase 8, caspase 9 and BAX. Meanwhile, gaillardin decreased the expression of anti-apoptotic marker BCL2. Conclusion: Considering the present outcomes and regarding the previous reports on other cancer cells, gaillardin is suggested as a promising candidate for further anti-tumor investigations regarding hepatocellular carcinoma.