Abstract

Scutellaria barbata, also known as “Banzhilian”, is one of the commonly used Chinese medicinal herbs. The objective of this study was to examine the antitumour activities of ethanol extract prepared from S. barbata in mice transplanted with human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells lines, and to test proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), CD31 in tumour. SP immunocytochemistry staining was employed to quantify these protein expression levels. The present results demonstrated that ethanol extract of S. barbata could sigficantly inhibit tumour growth in a dose-dependent manner. Levels of PCNA, VEGF and CD31 proteins expression decreased with increased concentration of ethanol extract of S. barbata. The effect is statistically significance when compared with control group.

Key words: S. barbata, mice, human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), cancer, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).