Beneficial effect of flavonoid baicalein in cisplatin-induced cell death of human glioma cells

Flavonoids are a family of polyphenolic compounds found ubiquitously in fruits and vegetables as well as in food products and beverages derived from plants. Baicalein is a flavonoid extracted from the root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, a medicinal plant traditionally used in Oriental medicine. Baicalein exerts either proapoptotic or anti-apoptotic effects in different cell types. The present study was, therefore, undertaken to examine the effect of baicalein on cisplatin-induced apoptosis of human glioma cells. Cisplatin resulted in cell death in a dose- and time-dependent manner and the cell death was attributed to apoptosis. Baicalein prevented loss of cell viability and apoptosis induced by cisplatin in a dose-dependent fashion over the concentrations of 2-10 μM. Exposure of cells to baicalein without cisplatin did not affect cell viability. Western blot analysis demonstrated that cisplatin induced activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), which was not affected by baicalein. Baicalein prevented Bax expression, mitochondrial depolarization, cytochrome c release from mitochondria, and caspase activation induced by cisplatin. Taken together, these findings suggest that baicalein prevents cisplatin-induced apoptosis through inhibition of the mitochondrial depolarization in human glioma cells.