Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Viscum album extract suppresses cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in bladder cancer cells

Shengyang Zhao¹, Mang Ke² , Ting Huang³, Tao Hong², Hongyuan Yu², Xianjun Zhang²

¹Department of Urology, The Fourth People;s Hospital of WenLing, Wenling City, Zhejiang Province 317500; ²Department of Urology, Taizhou Hospital Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province 317000; ³Department of Urology, Jinhua Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang University, Jinghua City, Zhejiang Province 321000, China.

For correspondence:- Mang Ke Email: Kemangdoctor525@126.com Tel:+8657685120120

Accepted: 29 July 2019 Published: 29 August 2019

Citation: Zhao S, Ke M, Huang T, Hong T, Yu H, Zhang X. Viscum album extract suppresses cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in bladder cancer cells. Trop J Pharm Res 2019; 18(8):1711-1717 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v18i8.21

© 2019 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of Viscum album (VA) extract on the progression of bladder cancer (BC) and its effect on the proliferation and apoptosis of T24 and J82 bladder cancer cells.

Methods: 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay (MTT assay) was conducted to examine the proliferation of bladder cancer cells. Flow cytometry (FCM) was employed to assess changes in the cell cycle of bladder cancer cells. The expression levels of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), CLND1 (cyclin D1), p21, and p27 in control and VA extract-treated (100, 200, or 300 μg/mL) T24 and J82 cells were measured by immunoblot assay. The effects of VA extract on T24 or J82 cell apoptosis were evaluated using FCM. Immunoblot assay was performed to evaluate Bcl-2, Bax, and cleaved caspase 3 expression in control or VA extract-treated bladder cancer cells. In addition, the effect of VA extract on Axl-AKT pathways was also evaluated by immunoblot assay.

Results: Viscum album extract treatment significantly blocked bladder cancer cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest. In addition, VA extract stimulated bladder cancer cell apoptosis. Moreover, this study found that VA extract suppressed Axl-AKT pathways in bladder cancer.

Conclusion: Viscum album extract exerts anti-proliferation and pro-apoptosis effects on bladder cancer cells. These abilities render Viscum album extract as promising agent in bladder cancer treatment.

Keywords: Viscum album, Bladder cancer, Proliferation, Apoptosis, Cell cycle arrest