Changes in mitochondrial membrane potential and reactive oxygen species during wogonin-induced cell death in human hepatoma cells.

Flavonoids exist extensively in plants, and several biological effects of them have been demonstrated. Wogonin is an important flavonoid compound. In this study, wogonin showed obvious growth inhibition on Bel-7402 cells. The major mechanisms of inhibition included cell apoptosis and cytotoxic effects. Wogonin-induced cell death showed characteristics of apoptosis including DNA fragmentation, chromatin condensation, appearance of apoptotic bodies, and an increase in hypodiploid cells. However, the percentage of necrosis cells also increased with the increase of wogonin concentration. Furthermore, treatment with wogonin caused changes of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potentials (DeltaPsim, MMP), the decrease of the ratio of reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG), cytochrome c release and activation of caspase-9.