Liposomes co-loaded with ursolic acid and ginsenoside Rg3 in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE

Liposomes co-loaded with ursolic acid and ginsenoside Rg3 (UA+Rg3-LIP) were prepared to study their effects on the proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells.

METHODS

Liposomes were prepared by reverse evaporation, and then UA+Rg3-LIP were prepared by the pH gradient method, and followed by liposome characterization. Next, the effects of UA+Rg3-LIP on the proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle of HepG2 cells were investigated by MTT method and flow cytometry at the cell level.

RESULTS

The entrapment efficiency of UA in UA+Rg3-LIP was 78.52% and that of Rg3 was 71.68%, as assayed by low-temperature ultracentrifugation. The in vitro release rates of UA+Rg3-LIP and UA+Rg3 detected by the dialysis membrane method were 1-10 h. The release rate of UA+Rg3 was close to 100%; that of UA+Rg3-LIP was decreased after 10 h and approached 100% after 24 h. It was further confirmed by cell experiments that UA+Rg3-LIP could significantly reduce cells viability while at the same time increase their apoptosis rate and raise the proportion of cells in the G0/G1 phase.

CONCLUSION

Liposomes co-loaded with ursolic acid and ginsenoside Rg3 could affect cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle, thus slowing down the in vitro drug release ability of HCC.