Inhibitory effect of Tanreqing injection on proliferation of chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cell line

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effects of Tanreqing（phlegm and heat clearing） injection on proliferation of chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cell line. Methods Tanreqing injection was diluted to 9 groups at the concentration of 1:2,1:4,1:8,1:16,1:32,1:64,1:128,1:256 and 1:512,respectively.Proliferating chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells were treated with Tanreqing injection at different dilution concentrations and their growth was observed at different time points under a microscope.CCK-8 assay was employed to detect the ability of the cells to proliferate and growth curves were plotted for calculating the inhibition ratio and 50% inhibiting concentration（IC₅₀） of Tanreqing. Results Tanreqing injection could significantly inhibit the proliferation of K562 cells.The proliferating time of the cells was 24h.The cytotoxicity of Tanreqing injection was greater in 1:2,1:4 and 1:8 concentration groups with almost all the cells died.Tanreqing injection inhibited the proliferation of K562 cells in a time-and dose-dependent manner and its IC₅₀ was approximately 1:55 dilution concentration. Conclusion Tanreqing injection can inhibit the proliferation of K562 cells,thus laying a foundation for its use in treatment of hematological malignancies complicated by infection.