Effects of Ursolic Acid Combined with Doxorubicin on the Proliferation of Cervical Cancer HeLa Cells

PurposeThe combined use of ursolic acid (UA) and doxorubicin (DOX) was used to preliminarily explore its effect on the proliferation of cervical cancer HeLa cells, and provide a basis for reducing the side effects of the anticancer drug doxorubicin.

MethodsThrough cell experiments, the MTT method was used to detect the cell survival rate of ursolic acid and doxorubicin when used alone and in combination, and 5 groups of different dosage treatments were screened: 0, 20 μmol/L UA, 2 mg/L DOX, 5 mg/L DOX and 20 μmol/L UA+2 mg/L DOX. According to 5 different treatments, fluorescence staining was used to analyze cell apoptosis, and Western-blot was used to detect the expression of cell-related apoptotic proteins.

ResultsThe result of the MTT experiment showed that the cell survival rate of ursolic acid combined with doxorubicin was lower than that of the corresponding drugs alone. The morphology changes of HeLa cells treated with the combination group of 20 μmol/L UA+2 mg/L DOX were the most obvious, changing from a spindle shape to a round shape, and the number of apoptosis was higher than that of the single drug group. The Western-blot result showed that the content of caspase-3 protein of combination group was lower than that of 5 mg/L DOX group and different from 20 μmol/L UA group (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference with the low-dose doxorubicin group (2 mg/L), and there was no significant difference in Bax/Bcl protein content.

ConclusionThe combination of ursolic acid and doxorubicin can reduce the dosage of doxorubicin to a certain extent and enhance the therapeutic effect of doxorubicin on cervical cancer HeLa cells.