Amomi Fructus is the dried ripe fruit of Amomum villosum Lour. (A. villosum). It is a well-known
traditional Chinese medicine widely used to treat
gastrointestinal diseases, while the efficacy or mechanism of main components in Amomi Fructus on
cancer treatment remains unknown. In this study,
volatile oil of A. villosum (VOAV), total
flavonoids of A. villosum (FNAV) and the other residue of A. villosum (RFAV) were distilled, extracted and separated as different active fractions of A. villosum. The cell toxicity test results indicated that VOAV and FNAV can effectively inhibit the cell growth of MFC cells. Flow cytometry test results confirmed that MFC cells were caused apoptosis after being treated with VOAV, FNAV or RFAV. VOAV, FNAV or RFAV induced MFC cells apoptosis through
reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated mitochondrial pathway, evident by the increase of endogenous ROS and mitochondrial membrane potential collapse. In addition, FNAV exhibited robust inhibitory effects on MFC
tumor growth, and could improve the health status of mice compared to that of mice in
5-FU treated group. To sum up, all the above results suggest that FNAV may be a good candidate for the development of new drugs for the treatment of
gastric cancer.