Tetramethylpyrazine inhibits proliferation of colon cancer cells in vitro

Background: Colon Cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, and chemotherapy is a widely used strategy in colon Cancer clinical therapy. However, chemotherapy resistance is a major cause of disease recurrence and progression in colon Cancer, and thus novel drugs for treatment are urgently needed. Tetramethylpyrazine (TMP), a component of the traditional Chinese medicine Chuanxiong Hort, has been proven to exhibit a beneficial effect in tumors.

Aim: To investigate the potential Anticancer activity of TMP in colon Cancer and its underlying mechanisms.

Methods: Colon Cancer cells were incubated with different concentrations of TMP. Cell viability was evaluated by crystal violet staining assay and cell counting kit-8 assay, and cell Apoptosis and cell cycle were assessed by flow cytometry.

Results: TMP significantly inhibited the proliferation of colon Cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. In addition, flow cytometry revealed that TMP induced cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase. TMP treatment caused early stage Apoptosis in SW480 cells, whereas it caused late stage Apoptosis in HCT116 cells.

Conclusion: Our studies demonstrated that TMP inhibits the proliferation of colon Cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner by inducing Apoptosis and arresting the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase. Our findings suggest that TMP might serve as a potential novel therapeutic drug in the treatment of human colon Cancer.