Research Article Potential Mechanisms of an Antiadenomyosis Chinese Herbal Formula Shaoyao-Gancao Decoction in Primary Cell Culture Model

Copyright © 2014 Yong-Ge Guan et al.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. Shaoyao-Gancao Decoction (SGD), a well-known traditional Chinese medicine prescription, has been widely used to treat adenomyosis, dysmenorrhea, abdominal pain, and inflammation in Asia. However, the mechanism underlying the effectiveness of SGD in the treatment of adenomyosis still remains elusive.The present study aimed to investigate the bioactivity of SGD and its underlying molecular mechanisms using cultured human adenomyosis-derived cells.Methods. Human adenomyosis-derived cells were treated with SGD and its major constituents (paeoniflorin and liquiritin) in vitro. Effects of SGD, paeoniflorin, and liquiritin on cell proliferation and apoptosis were examined by MTT assay and flow cytometry analyses. The effects of SGD, paeoniflorin, and liquiritin on the production of PGE 2 and PGF