Objective: To investigate the effects of Astragalus injection on the protein expression of Bax and Bcl-2 in H22 tumor cells bearing mice. Method: Hepatic cancer H22 model in mice was performed to study anti-hepatocarcinoma activity of Astragalus injection in vivo. The growth curve and inhibitory rate of tumor growth were measured. Cell apoptosis of each group were measured by flow cytometry (FCM). Protein expression of Bax and Bcl-2 were analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Result: Under the treatment of 12

8

4 g ·kg-1of Astragalus injection

the inhibitory rates of H22 transplanted tumor in mice were 52.36%

33.68%

17.28%

respectively. FCM and IHC showed the cell apoptosis rate and protein expression of Bax and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio of H22 transplanted tumor in Astragalus injection were significantly higher than that of in the control group (P<0.05). The protein expression of Bcl-2 was significantly lower than that in control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Astragalus injection has significant anti-tumor effects in vivo for inducing apoptosis of H22 tumor cells by promoting protein expression of Bax

decreasing protein expression of Bcl-2 gene

and marked increasing the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio.