Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of allicin and survivin antisense oligonucleotide(ASODN) on proliferation and apoptosis of gastric cancer cell line SGC7901. Methods The SGC7901 cells were treated by allicin alone or in combination survivin ASODN. After 12, 24, 48h, MTT assay was used to examine the inhibition rate of cell growth. The apoptosis of SGC7901 was examined by flow cytometry(FCM). The expression of Ki67 was detected in gastric cancer cells by immunohistochemical staining. Results Allicin or survivin ASODN effectively inhibited the growth of SGC7901 gastric cancer cells in a concentration- dependent manner at certain range of concentrations. The inhibitory rate of combined treatment with allicin and survivin ASODN was significantly higher than that of allicin or survivin ASODN alone(P<0.05) and the value of combination index(CI) was 0.46. In the allicin and survivin ASODN combined treatment group, the apoptosis rate was 7.30%, 10.44% and 16.44%, respectively, which difference was significantly higher compared with single drug treatment group(P<0.05). The expression of Ki67 protein was down-regulated by allicin plus survivin ASODN compared with single drug treatment and control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Allicin combined with survivin ASODN has synergistic effects in inhibiting the growth and inducing apoptosis of gastric cancer SGC7901 cells.

Key words: allicin, survivin, antisense oligonucleotide, gastric tumor cell, apoptosis