OBJECTIVETo study the effects of the traditional Chinese drugs, Shuganyishen, on Ishikawa cell line.

METHODRat blood serum was prepared by using Chinese drugs serum pharmacology method, in which, Shuganyishen was contained or not contained. Ishikawa cells were subjected into five groups: (1) normal cells group (NCG), (2) rat blood serum without Shuganyishen group (NSGG) as negative control, (3) Shuganyishen group (SGG), (4) Cisplatin group (DDPG) as positive control, and (5) Shuganyishen with Cisplatin group (S&CG). MTT assay was used to evaluate the inhibition effect on cell growth in each group. The mRNA expression of estrogen receptor alpha and beta (ERalpha and ERbeta) in each group was detected by RT-PCR.

RESULTEffective inhibition of cell growth was found in the groups of SGG and S&CG, respectively (P < 0.05), which had no significant difference from positive control by MTT. The mRNA expression of ERbeta was slightly going up, while the expression of ERalpha was hardly effected in SGG by RT-PCR. Interestingly in S&CG, the mRNA expression of ERalpha was significantly down-regulated (P < 0.05), but the mRNA expression of ERbeta remained no change. As the positive control, the mRNA expression of ERalpha and ERbeta was significantly down-regulated in DDPG (P < 0.5).

CONCLUSIONTraditional Chinese drugs, Shuganyishen, may inhibit Ishikawa cell growth and had no effects on the expression of ERalpha, furthermore, can reverse the inhibition of ERbeta expression by Cisplatin.