Delisheng consists of radix ginseng,
radix astragali,
venenum bufonis and mylabris. It has been reported that
delisheng inhibits the proliferation of
adenocarcinoma cells and stimulates their apoptosis.
Delisheng can also enhance the body's immunity and induce the redifferentiation of
carcinoma cells.
Delisheng inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells in MTT assay and promoted apoptosis more effectively in contrast to the active components of ginseng extract, Rg3 and
gemcitabine. It is possible that Rg3 has an important role in
delisheng because they all could regulate the cell cycle, apoptosis and expression of
endostatin and
VEGFR-2.
Delisheng caused the cell cycle to arrest at the S phase, while
gemcitabine blocked the cells at the G0/G1 phase in cell cycle analysis. Consequently, the apoptosis rate of the HepG2 cell line can be increased significantly by
delisheng in combination with
gemcitabine, compared with the single
drug. The expression of the procaspase
proteins,
caspase protein, and dr5 detected by Western blot were increased while bcl-2 and
survivin decreased in the
delisheng group, compared with controls. The observations suggest that the
delisheng induced apoptotic effect might be closely related to the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway, and the
death receptor signaling pathway.