RESUMO
Objective: To investigate the antitumor effect of volatile oil from Sinapis Albae Semen (VOSAS) on H22-bearing mice and to determine the mechanism. Methods: To establish the H22 implanted hepatocellular carcinoma animal model which was used to analyze the effect of VOSAS on the growth of transplanted tumor. Mice were divided into five groups 24 h after modeling: model, cytoxan (CTX, 25 mg/kg) positive control, low-, mid-, and high-dose (20, 40, and 80 mg/kg) VOSAS groups. The mice were ip administered once daily for 10 d. Morphological changes in H22 solid tumor cells were observed by both Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and acridine orange (AO) staining. The expression of Bax and Bcl-2 in the tumor tissue was determined using immunohistochemistry. Results: VOSAS could inhibit the tumor growth and extend the life span of H22-bearing mice (P < 0.01); and it could also raise the expression of Bax while suppress the expression of Bcl-2; the antitumor effect of VOSAS on H22-bearing mice demonstrated a good dose-effect relationship, but the high-dose group of the volatile oil has obvious toxicity and side effects on the mice. Conclusion: VOSAS could inhibit the growth of H22 tumor cells and the mechanism may be related to up-regulating the expression of Bax and down-regulating the expression of Bcl-2, and the induction of apoptosis.
