College of Oriental Medicine and Research Center for Biomedical Resources of Oriental Medicine, Daegu Haany University, 165 Sang-dong, Suseong-gu, Daegu 706-060, Korea.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2008 Jun;5(2):165-71. doi: 10.1093/ecam/nem014.
Licorice, Glycyrrhizae radix, is one of the herbal medicines in East Asia that has been commonly used for treating various diseases, including stomach disorders. This study investigated the effect of licorice on arsenite (As)-induced cytotoxicity in H4IIE cells, a rat hepatocyte-derived cell line. Cell viability was significantly diminished in As-treated H4IIE cells in a time and concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, results from flow cytometric assay and DNA laddering in H4IIE cells showed that As treatment induced apoptotic cell death by activating caspase-3. Licorice (0.1 and 1.0 mg ml(-1)) treatment significantly inhibited cell death and the activity of caspase-3 in response to As exposure. These results demonstrate that licorice induced a cytoprotective effect against As-induced cell death by inhibition of caspase-3.
甘草是东亚地区常用的草药之一，被广泛用于治疗各种疾病，包括胃病。本研究旨在探讨甘草对亚砷酸钠（As）诱导的大鼠肝细胞株 H4IIE 细胞毒性的影响。结果表明，As 处理可显著降低细胞活力，并呈时间和浓度依赖性；同时，流式细胞术和 DNA 梯状带分析结果显示，As 处理可通过激活 caspase-3 诱导细胞凋亡。甘草（0.1 和 1.0 mg/ml）处理可显著抑制细胞死亡和 caspase-3 的活性，减轻 As 暴露所致的细胞毒性。这些结果表明，甘草可通过抑制 caspase-3 活性发挥其对 As 诱导的细胞死亡的保护作用。
