Objective: To observe inducing differention effect on cells of serum from mice treated with Yang He decoction (SMY).
Methods: The viability of B16 cells was tested by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay and sulforhordamine B (SRB) assay. The differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocyte, HL-60, K562 and B16 cells were assessed by microscopy and Oil red O staining, NBT reduction and phagocytosis, haemoglobin (Hb) content and melanin content, respectively.
Results: SMY could obviously inhibit growth of B16 cells without cytotoxicity, and promote Oil red O staining in 3T3-L1 preadipocyte, enhance the NBT reduction ability and the phagocytosis of horse radish peroxidase in HL-60 cells, increase Hb content in K562 cells, and decrease melanin content in B16 cells.
Conclusion: SMY is able to induce functional differentiation and maturation of 3T3-L1 preadipocyte and tumor cells, which implies the major mechanism of Yang He decoction in antitumor.