Effects of Banxia Xiexin Decoction (半夏泻心汤) on Cisplatin-Induced Apoptosis of Human A549 Lung Cancer Cells

Objective: To examinie the synergistic effects of Banxia Xiexin Decoction(半夏泻心汤,Known as Banhasasim-tang in Korean) extract(BXDE) on cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity in the A549 human lung cancer cell lines. Methods: A549 cells were treated with varying concentrations(50–200 μg/m L) of cisplatin and BXDE alone or in combination for 96 h. We used 1-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-3,5-diphenylformazan assay and flow cytometry to analyze cell viability and apoptosis, respectively. Results: The exposure of cells to cisplatin and BXDE alone or in combination decreased cell viability dose-and time-dependently(P<0.05), which was found to be mediated by the apoptotic pathway as confirmed by the increase in the annexin V+/propidium iodide-stained cell population and a ladder pattern of discontinuous DNA fragments. Furthermore, the apoptosis was inhibited by the pan-caspase inhibitor, benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp(OMe) fluoromethylketone(z-VAD-FMK). Conclusions: BXDE significantly potentiated apoptotic effects of cisplatin in A549 cells. Moreover, apoptosis induced by BXDE might be the pivotal mechanism mediating its chemopreventative action against cancer.