Aloe-emodin induced DNA damage through generation of reactive oxygen species in human lung carcinoma cells.

The DNA aggregation was found in aloe-emodin-induced H460 cell apoptosis in this study. Aloe-emodin (40microM)-induced DNA single strand breaks were observed by comet assay. Aloe-emodin induced decreases in the mRNA of DNA repair enzymes such as hMTH1, hOGG1 and APE. Although the activity of the radical-scavenging enzyme SOD was enhanced by aloe-emodin, the effects of aloe-emodin on H460 cell apoptosis were suspected to result from the prooxidant. These results suggest that aloe-emodin induced DNA damage through generation of reactive oxygen species in human lung carcinoma cells.