Abstract

Background and Objective: The polysaccharides of herbal Scutellaria barbata (PSB) are a group of active components with multiple bioactivities. Though PSB is thought to constitute the main medicinal properties of Scutellaria barbata (S. barbata) the current study on the isolation of PBS and their anticancer and antioxidant activities are rare and thus, remain as an ongoing challenge. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to further develop a new isolation technique for industrial production of PSB and also determine the anticancer and antioxidant properties of PBS in vitro. Methodology: This study optimized an ultrasonic-assisted method for PSB isolation and led to the yield rate at 2.96±0.24%. The isolated PSB were able to induce the apoptosis of the human esophageal cancer EC109 cell line and human liver cancer HepG2 cell line in Annexin-V staining apoptotic assay. Results: The IC50 of PSB on EC109 and HepG2 were determined as 43.62±1.51 μg mL–1 and 60.44±2.31 μg mL–1, respectively using MTT cytotoxic test. Moreover, PSB demonstrated the dose-dependent antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities in the total antioxidant activity and ABTS free radical scavenging assay. Its highest effect was comparable to that of the positive control butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Conclusion: In this study, the method of PSB isolation is significantly developed and characterized with higher yield rate and less time/resources consuming which greatly facilitate the current and future study of PSB. Meanwhile, the growth inhibitory and apoptotic effects of PSB are firstly determine in esophageal cancer cell and human liver cancer cell in vitro. The PSB is confirmed as an active anticancer and antioxidant component of S. barbata providing a potential natural medicinal resource for further investigation and development. Moreover, the results of this study underpin the fundamental understanding of the medicinal activities of S. barbata and support its current use in clinic of China.