RESUMO
Objective To study the antitumor effects on human prostate cancer cell lines of a traditional Chinese medicine named atractylodes macrocephala koidz volatile oil in vitro.Methods LNCaP and DU145 cell lines were normally cultured and were divided into 4 control groups including:Blank culture without serum and without cell (group A),Blank culture with serum but without cell (group B),LNCaP cell culture with serum (group C),DU145 cell culture with serum (group D).In the meanwhile,there were 6 experimental groups:adding 50 μg/ml of atractylodes macrocephala koidz volatile oil in culture of group C1 and group D1,250ug/ml in group C2 and group D2,and 500ug/ml in group C3 and group D3.All of the 10 groups were simultaneously cultured in 24-well-plates for 48 hrs,and each group was repeatedly studied for three times.Forty-eight hours later,every 2 × 106 cells of LNCaP or DU145 was seeded into each well and atractylodes macrocephala koidz volatile oil was added in 6 experimental groups,and saline water was added into 4 control groups.Another 48 hrs later,the culture solutions of the 10 groups were separately collected for testosterone (T),estradiol (E2),progesterone (P),vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF),basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF),total prostate specific antigen (tPSA) and free prostate specific antigen (fPSA) analysis with enzyme-linked immunoassay kits.The experiment was repeated for 3 times,and the mean data were statistically analyzed by SPSS One-way ANOVA.Results The growth of cultured cells was found to have been effectively inhibited in group C1 and group D2.The inhibition severity of LNCaP cells was positively related with the drug concentration and time,while DU145 cells could only be highly inhibited (60.96％) after 24hrs drug treatments.In group C and group D,we found that both T were in very low level (0 ng/ml) whereas both E2 were in high levels (269 pg/ml and 239.81 pg/ml,P ＜ 0.05),no distinct differences showed in P; In addition,VEGF,b-FGF and fPSA were all in high values,whose values were 102.96 pg/ml and 1763.40 pg/ml,0.26 ng/ml and 6.41 ng/ml,0.16 ng/ml and 0.44 ng/ml,respectively; DU145 cells had higher values than LNCaP cells (P ＜ 0.05).As regard to the 6 experimental groups,in the groups C1,C2,C3 and D3,we found that T had been unexpectedly increased from 0 to 0.37 ng/ml (P ＜ 0.05),E2 continuously elevated from 239.81 pg/ml to 649.90 pg/ml (P ＜0.05),surprisingly P were also increased from 0.98 ng/ml to 9.83 ng/ml (P ＜0.01).On the contrary,VEGF,b-FGF and fPSA levels were all graduallydecreased,dropping down to 47.79 pg/ml and 59.56pg/ml,0 and 1.79 ng/ml,0 and 0.11 ng/ml,respectively; nevertheless,in group C2 and group D2,fPSA values were surprisingly increased from 0 and 0.04 ng/ml up to 1.78 ng/ml and 0.23 ng/ml respectively.Conclusions Atractylodes macrocephala koidz volatile oil has certain anti-tumor effects on human prostate cancer.Compared with LNCaP cells,DU145 cells have many different characteristics in sex hormone,cytokine and PSA expressions.