Objective   To observe the effects of curcumin on proliferation and apoptosis of the human colon carcinoma cell line HT-29 in vit ro.

  Methods   Metheyl theiazolyl tetrazolium(MTT)assay was used to detect the cell proliferation of HT-29 cells.The cell apoptosis and changes of cell cycle of HT-29 cells were analyzed by using flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy and/orelectron microscopy.

  Results   Curcumin significantly inhibited the cell proliferation of HT-29 cells in dose dependent manner, and the 50% inhibitory concentraiton was(15.9±1.96)μmol/L.The results of flow cytometry showed theat an apoptotic peak was found after HT-29 cells treated withe curcumin for 24h.Condensed and highly fluorescent granular cell nuclei under fluorescence microscopy and chromatin condenstation and aggregation on the nuclear margin underelectron microscopy were observed in HT-29 cells treated withe curcumin.

  Conclusion   Curcumin would inhibit the growthe of colon cancer cells and the mechanism responsible for the effect might be involved in the induction of apoptosis.