Abstract: Objective To explore the effect of total flavonoids of Verbena officinalis L (TFV)on proliferation and invasiveness of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG-2) cells. Methods HepG-2 were treated with TFV at dosages of 50, 100, and 200 mg/L;the proliferation of HepG-2 cells was assayed by using 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazolyl)-2, 5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) method and the apoptosis of the cells was detected with Hoechest 33342;the invasiveness of the cells was detected with Transwell.The expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were assessed with enzyme-linked immunosobent assay (ELISA). Results Compared with thecontrol group, different concentration of TFV could inhibit the growth of HepG-2 cells significantly (P < 0.05) and significantly promote apoptosis of the cells, with the apoptosis rates of 10.31±0.51%, 16.02±0.63%, and 35.05±1.12% and the invasiveness rates of 119.2±17.1, 98.5±13.5, and 54.8±6.4 for the HepG-2 cells with the TFV dosages of 50, 100, and 200 mg/L, respectively(all P < 0.05).The expression levels of MMP-9 (7.81±0.48, 6.28±0.41, and 3.08±0.35) and VEGF (0.87±0.07, 0.63±0.04, and 0.45±0.06) were down-rugulated for the HepG-2 cells with the TFV dosages of 50, 100, and 200 mg/L, respectively (all P < 0.05). Conclusion Total flavonoids of Verbena officinalis L can inhibit the proliferation of HepG-2 cells and reduce invasiveness of the cells, and the mechanism of the effect may be related to down-regulation MMP-9 and VEGF.