Inhibition Effects of baicalin on Lymphoma Cell Line CA46 in Vitro and in Vivo

Baicalin is a traditional Chinese medicine with multiple biological effects. Some researches showed baicalin has anti-tumor effects in solid tumor, such as prostate cancer. In order to investigate its effects on proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induction in human lymphoma cell, we treated Burkitt lymphoma cell line CA46 with baicalin in vitro and in vivo of CA46 xenograft. Baicalin remarkably inhibited the cell proliferation, with an IC₅₀ value of 10μM. Apoptosis was remarkably induced by baicalin in a dose-dependent manner, which was detected by Annexin V FITC/PI double staining analysis, TUNEL labeling method and DNA fragmentation respectively. Furthermore, RT-PCR showed that the mRNA expressions of c-myc and bcl-2 in treated CA46 cell decreased in a time-dependent manner. Western-Blot showed that the protein expressions of c-myc, bcl-2, procaspase-3 and PARP(116KD) in baicalin treated CA46 cell were down-regulated, while the expression of PARP(85KD) increased. Based on the results in vitro, we investigated in vivo efficacy of baicalin, alone or in combination with cytotoxic drug VP16, for treatment in CA46 nude mice xenograft. Baicalin with the dosage of 40mg/kg/d and 80kg/mg/d could remarkably inhibit the growth of the tumor compared with control group. Combination of baicalin and VP16 had better anti-tumor effects. Histological examination of tumor samples showed more necrotic cells in treated groups. And obvious apoptosis could be observed by electron microscope. No adverse events were found in treated groups. From above we could conclude that baicalin could efficiently induce proliferation inhibition and apoptosis of CA46 cells in vitro and in vivo, which may be related with the down-regulation of c-myc and bcl-2 expressions, as well as the up-regulation of caspase-3 activity.