Abstract: This study aims to explore the proliferation inhibitory effect of essential oil from Amomum tsaoko in nasopharyngeal carcinoma 6-10B cells and investigate its mechanism of inducing apoptosis.The inhibition effect of essential oil from A. tsaoko on the proliferation of 6-10B cells was detected by CCK-8 method;The morphological changes of 6-10B cells were observed by inverted microscopic imaging;The apoptosis inducing effect of essential oil on 6-10B is evaluated by Annexin V/PI Apoptosis Detection Kit;JC-1 staining was used to detect the changes of the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) of 6-10B cells;Western blot was used to detect the effect of essential oil from A. tsaoko on the expression of apoptosis-related proteins in 6-10B.The results showed that the essential oil from A. tsaoko could inhibit the proliferation of 6-10B cells in a dose-dependent manner,and its IC₅₀for 24 h was 0.14 mg/mL.The morphological results showed that essential oil from A. tsaoko could induce tumor cells to show typical apoptotic morphology.Annexin V/PI double staining and JC-1 staining showed that essential oil from A. tsaoko induced apoptosis of 6-10B cells and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) of the cells.Western blot results showed that the expression levels of pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and Bim in the mitochondrial pathway were increased,while the expression levels of anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL were decreased after the essential oil was applied to 6-10B cells for 24 h.In summary,the essential oil from A. tsaoko can inhibit the proliferation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma 6-10B cells,and the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway may be involved in the apoptosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells induced by the essential oil from A. tsaoko.

Key words: essential oil from Amomum tsaoko, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, apoptosis