Abstract

Agrimoniin, a form of tannin separated from Agrimonia pilosa ledeb, causes cancer cell death through induction of apoptosis. The present study was designed to investigate the effects ofagrimoniin on mitochondrial transmembrane potential and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in human gastric cancer cell SGC-7901. In addition, the concentration of intracellular calcium was measured by laser confocal scanning microscopy (LCSM). The results showed mitochondrial transmembrane potential of treatment groups was significantly lower than that in untreatment group. The concentration of calcium in cells exposed to agrimoniin for 24 h was increased in a dose dependent manner compared with unexposed group, the level of ROS in the SGC-7901 cell was treated by the different dose of agrimoniin, which were higher than that in control group. Therefore, agrimoniin can increase the concentration of calcium and the intracellular level of ROS, decrease mitochondrial transmembrane potential, and then induce the SGC-7901 cells apoptosis. These results can improve our understanding about agrimoniin induced apoptosis.

Key words: Agrimoniin, apoptosis, human gastric cancer.