Abstract: ObjectiveTo study the effect and mechanism of evodiamine on proliferation of human hepatocellular carcinoma(HepG2) cells.MethodsHepG2 cells were treated with evodiamin at dosages of 5.0,12.5,25.0,50.0,and 100.0 umol/L.The cell proliferation was assayed by using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide(MTT) method.The ability of cicatrization was analyzed with scratch wounds healing.The expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9),proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA) in HepG2 cells were assessed with Western blot.ResultsThe proliferation inhibition rate of evodiamine-treated groups was higher than that of the control group in a dose- and time-effect manner(P<0.05).Evodiamine could significantly inhibit cicatrization rate of HepG2 cells compared with the control group,with the cicatrization rates of 23.31±1.03%,10.37±1.06%,and 7.92±1.40% at 24 hours and 13.86±5.57%,1.78±3.08,and 0±0% at 48 hours for the groups with the dosage of 5.0,25.0,and 50.0 μmol/L,respectively(all P<0.05).The expression levels of MMP-9 and PCNA were down-regulated(0.53±0.020,0.35±0.020,and 0.21±0.015 and 0.76±0.032,0.66±0.01,and 0.59±0.015 for the groups with the dosage of 5.0,25.0,and 50.0 μmol/L)(all P<0.05).ConclusionEvodiamine can inhibit proliferation of HepG2 cells and the mechanism of the effect may be related to down-regulations of MMP-9 and PCNA proteins.