Authors : Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang , Linda Dong-Mei Zhang , Judy Yuet-Wa Chan , Julia Kin-Ming Lee , Chi Liu , Shannon Wing-Ngor Au , Siu-Kai Kong , Stephen Kwok-Wing Tsui , Mary Mui-Yee Waye , Thomas Chung-Wai Mak and Kwok-Pui Fung
Abstract: Oldenlandia diffusa, a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) commonly used for curing hepatoma and hepatitis, showed promising anti-tumor effects on a number of tumor cell lines. In this study, Stearic Acid (C18H36O2, SA) was isolated and identified from O. diffusa as one of the active components using a bioassay-guided method. SA showed significant inhibitory effects on the growth of human hepatoma cell lines, HepG2 and Hep3B, but not on human normal liver cell line, WRL-68. Both HepG2 and Hep3B cells were more sensitive towards SA when comparing with other fatty acids. Mechanistic study showed that Pa induced apoptosis on both HepG2 and Hep3B cells with induction of sub-G1 population, DNA fragmentation, changing of mitochondrial transmembrane potential and activation of caspase precursors observed. This study firstly reports that SA is an active component isolated from O. diffusa with potential for hepatoma treatment.
Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang , Linda Dong-Mei Zhang , Judy Yuet-Wa Chan , Julia Kin-Ming Lee , Chi Liu , Shannon Wing-Ngor Au , Siu-Kai Kong , Stephen Kwok-Wing Tsui , Mary Mui-Yee Waye , Thomas Chung-Wai Mak and Kwok-Pui Fung , 2007. Apoptotic Effects of Stearic Acid, an Active Compound Isolated from Oldenlandia diffusa, on Human Hepatoma Cells. Research Journal of Medical Sciences, 1: 30-38.