Objective: To investigate honokiol

artemisinin or combination of honokiol and artemisinin on proliferation and apoptosis of CNE-2 cells in vitro. Method: MTT assay was used to determine the effect of honokiol

artemisinin or their combination on the proliferation of CNE-2 cells. King formula was applied to analyze the combination effect of the two drugs. DAPI staining was used to observe the morphological changes of CNE-2 cells treated with honokiol

artemisinin or their combination for 48 hours. Flow cytometric analysis was used to detect the apoptosis rate of CNE-2 cells. Result: Honokiol could significantly inhibit the proliferation of CNE-2 cells

but artemisinin could inhibit the proliferation of CNE-2 cells slightly. The inhibitory effect of honokiol was in a dose-dependent manner. IC50 value of honokiol and artemisinin was 8.58

62.24 mg·L-1 respectively. The inhibition rate in combination group was much higher than that of the single drug group. Much more chromatin condensation

nuclear fragmentation and formation of apoptotic bodies was observed in combination group than single drug groups under fluorescence microscope. Compared with single drug groups

combination group induced higher apoptotic rate of CNE-2 cells by FCM analysis. Conclusion: Honokiol could inhibit proliferation of CNE-2 cells

while artemsinin had little effect on the proliferation of CNE-2 cells. However

honokiol combined with artemisinin yield a synergistc inhibitory effect on CNE-2 cells.