Aim To study the effect of the total extract of astragalosides (TEA) on the growth, AFP secretion and ?_GT activity of human hepatoma cells in vitro. Methods The human hepatoma HepG2 and Bel_7404 cells were cultured with TEA 5～160 mg?L-1 for 6 days. Anti_hepatoma activity was measured by MTT method. AFP was assaysed by ELISA and ?_GT was determined by enzyme_substrate method. Results The growth of the human hepatoma HepG2 and Bel_7404 cells and the secretion of AFP of HepG2 cells were reduced significantly by TEA 5～160 mg?L-1.The ?_GT activity of HepG2 cells was inhibited and its ALB content was increased by TEA 20,40 and 80 mg?L-1. The ?_GT activity of Bel_7404 cell was inhibited and its ALB content was increased by TEA 40 and 80 mg?L-1.Conclusion These results suggest that TEA has inhibitory effects on the growth, AFP secretion and ?_GT activity of human hepatoma cells.