Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Feb 6:10:1117364.
doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1117364. eCollection 2023.

Effect of total glycosides of Cistanche deserticola on the energy metabolism of human HepG2 cells

Duo Feng  1   2   3 , Shi-Qi Zhou  1   2 , Ya-Xi Zhou  1   2 , Yong-Jun Jiang  4 , Qiao-di Sun  1   2 , Wei Song  1   2 , Qian-Qian Cui  1   2 , Wen-Jie Yan  1   2 , Jing Wang  3
Affiliations

Effect of total glycosides of Cistanche deserticola on the energy metabolism of human HepG2 cells

Duo Feng et al. Front Nutr. .

Abstract

To study the anti-tumor effect of Cistanche deserticola Y. Ma, HepG2 cells were treated with 0, 3.5, 10.5, 21, 31.5, and 42 μg/ml of total glycosides (TG) from Cistanche deserticola. The HepG2 cell survival rate and 50% inhibition concentration (IC50) were detected using the CCK-8 method, and the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was detected by using a DCFH-DA fluorescence probe. Finally, a Seahorse XFe24 energy analyzer (Agilent, United States) was used to detect cell mitochondrial pressure and glycolytic pressure. The results showed that TG could reduce the survival rate of HepG2 cells and that the IC50 level was 35.28 μg/ml. With increasing TG concentration, the level of ROS showed a concentration-dependent upward trend. Energy metabolism showed that each dose group of TG could significantly decline the mitochondrial respiratory and glycolytic functions of HepG2 cells. In conclusion, TG could significantly inhibit the mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis functions of HepG2 cells, increase the level of ROS, and inhibit cell proliferation. Thus, this experiment pointed out that Cistanche deserticola can be used as a source of anti-cancer foods or drugs in the future. However, further studies on its mechanisms and clinical applications are needed.

Keywords: Cistanche deserticola; HepG2 cells; glycolytic pressure; mitochondrial respiration; total glycosides.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Y-jJ was employed by Inner Mongolia Sankou Biotechnology Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Morphological changes of the cells after TG treatment for 24 h. (A) Cell morphology after treatment with 0 μg/ml TG. (B) Cell morphology after treatment with 21 μg/ml TG. (C) Cell morphology after treatment with 42 μg/ml TG.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effects of different concentrations of TG on the proliferation of HepG2 cells. (A) The survival rate of HepG2 cells. (B) The inhibition rate of HepG2 cells; IC50 represents the 50% inhibition of cell viability. **P < 0.01.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effects of different concentrations of TG on the ROS levels of HepG2 cells. (A) The level of ROS was detected by flow cytometry. (B) Different concentrations of TG induced relative ROS production in HepG2 cells. **P < 0.01.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Bar chart of different cell numbers. (A) OCR values of different cell numbers. (B) ECAR values of different cell numbers. *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effect of TG on oxidative phosphorylation of HepG2 cells. (A) OCR value curve at different time intervals. (B) OCR bar chart of TG with different concentrations. (C) Basic respiration at different TG concentrations. (D) Maximum respiration at different concentrations. (E) Non-mito respiration at different TG concentrations. (F) ATP production at different TG concentrations. *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Effect of TG on the glycolytic function of HepG2 cells. (A) Curves of ECAR values at different times. (B) ECAR histogram of TG with different concentrations. (C) Non-glycolytic acidification with different TG concentrations. (D) The glycolytic capacity of TG at different TG concentrations. (E) Glycolytic reserve with different TG concentrations. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Protein expression in HepG2 cells treated with different concentrations of TG. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Feng D, He Y, Jiang Y-J, Wang Y-J, Yan W-J. Research progress on anti-aging function of Cistanches. J Food Saf Qual. (2021) 12:4429–37. 10.19812/j.cnki.jfsq11-5956/ts.2021.11.018 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Feng D, Duan H, Lv Y-N, Jiang Y-J, Wang Y-J, Yan W-J. Application of Cistanche deserticola Ma in functional food in China. Food Sci Technol. (2021) 46:76–81. 10.13684/j.cnki.spkj.2021.12.012 - DOI
    1. Ma G-Z, Chen J-R, Wei T-T, Wang J, Chen W-S. Inhibiting roles of FOXA2 in liver cancer cell migration and invasion by transcriptionally suppressing microRNA103a-3p and activating the GREM2/LATS2/YAP axis. Cytotechnology. (2021) 73:523–37. 10.1007/s10616-021-00475-2 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zheng R-S, Zhang S-W, Zeng H-M, Wang S-M, Sun K-X, Chen R, et al. . Cancer incidence and mortality in China, 2016. J Natl Cancer Center. (2022) 2:1–9. 10.1016/j.jncc.2022.02.002 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sun Y, Song Y-Y, Zhang C, Lu Y-Z, Zheng G-H, Tian X-X, et al. . Effects and mechanism of celastrol on the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells by activating AMPK signal pathway. China Pharmacist. (2021). 24:1961–6. 10.19962/j.cnki.issn1008-049X.2021.11.001 - DOI