Abstract
Baicalein is one of the major constituents of Scutellaria baicalensis, and some cancer cells could be
inhibited by it according to some studies in recent years. Mice tumor models of U14 cervical cancer was
established in our study, baicalein of high and low dose (40 and 20 mg/kg, respectively) were given
orally to mice. The tumor inhibition rates and the thymus (spleen) weight index were studied, the cell
morphologies of tumor, liver and kidney were examined after HE stained, the percentage of apoptotic
cells was detected by flow cytometer and the positive expression rates of Bcl-2 and Bax protein in
tumor tissues were examined by the standard immunehistochemical SP method. The results showed
that baicalein could inhibit the tumor growth obviously with the tumor inhibition rate of 58.98%.
Besides, the apoptosis of tumor could be induced by baicalein with the apoptotic percentage of 16.92 ±
0.65%. Moreover, compared with the negative control group, the expression of Bcl-2 was reduced, while
that of Bax was increased after the treatment of Baicalein. So, baicalein could inhibit the growth of U14
cervical cancer cells, and it might induce apoptosis by downregulating the level of Bcl-2 protein and
upregulating that of Bax.
Key words: Baicalein, U14 cervical cancer, Bcl-2, Bax, apoptosis.