Cancer is a leading cause of death in worldwide. Growing evidence has shown that
docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has ameliorative effects on
cancer. However, the effects of DHA-enriched
phosphatidylcholine (DHA-PC) and efficacy differences between DHA-PC, DHA-
triglyceride (DHA-TG), and DHA- ethyl
esters (DHA-EE) on
cancer cells had not been studied. In this study, 95D
lung cancer cells in vitro were used to determine the effects and underlying mechanisms of DHA with different molecular forms. The results showed that DHA-PC and DHA-TG treatment significantly inhibited the growth of 95D cells by 53.7% and 33.8%, whereas DHA-EE had no significantly effect. Morphological analysis showed that DHA-PC and DHA-TG prompted promoted cell contraction, increased concentration of cell
heterochromatin, vacuolization of cytoplasm, and
edema of endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. TUNEL and AO/EB staining indicated that both DHA-PC and DHA-TG promoted cell apoptosis, in which DHA-PC performed better than DHA-TG. Mechanistically, DHA-PC and DHA-TG treatment up-regulated the PPARγ and RXRα signal, inhibited the expression of NF-κB and Bcl-2, and enhanced the expression of Bax and
caspase-3, thereby promoting cell apoptosis. In conclusion, DHA-PC exerted superior effects to DHA-TG and DHA-EE in promoting apoptosis in 95D
non-small-cell lung cancer cells. These data provide new evidence for the application of DHA in treatment of
cancer.