Abstract:

Objective To evaluate the value of triptolide as an antitumor drug by observing its inhibitive effect on human oral squamous cell carcinoma（cell line Tca8113）, and to compare it with conventional chemotherapeutics cisplatin. Methods Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium（MTT） assay was used to examine the inhibitive effect of triptolide on the proliferation of Tca8113 in vitro. The morphology of the cells treated with triptolide was observed by inverted phase contrast microscope. Results Triptolide had significant effect on Tca8113 in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner（P<0.05）; Lower concentration of triptolide could exert considerable inhibitive effect, the inhibitive rate of 0.001 mg·L－1 and 0.01 mg·L－1 triptolide was 60% and 90% at 7 days, respectively statistically significantly better than those of cisplatin; while the concentration more than 0.1 mg·L－1, cisplatin was superior to triptolide in inhibiting the cells proliferation at 1, 3, 5 days（P <0.05）; the 50% inhibitory concentration of triptolide was less than those of cisplatin at every time point. Conclusion Triptolide has significant suppressive effect on human oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line Tca8113 in dose- and time-dependent manner（P<0.05）, and it works better than cisplatin at low concentrations with longer acting time.

Key words: triptolide, cisplatin, human oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line Tca8113, anti-tumor effect, thiazolyl blue