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BackgroundIsodeoxyelephantopin (IDOE) isolated from Elephantopus scaber L. (Didancao) is used in Chinese medicine for the treatment of some types of cancer. The anti-cancer mechanism of IDOE remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the antiproliferative activity of IDOE on breast carcinoma T47D cells and lung carcinoma A549 cells.MethodsThe growth inhibitory effects of IDOE on breast carcinoma T47D cells, lung carcinoma A549 cells, and normal lymphocytes were evaluated by the MTT assay. Morphological analysis of apoptosis induction was performed by acridine orange/ethidium bromide dual-staining and Hoechst 33342 nuclear staining. The cell cycle profile, caspase-3 expression, and annexin V staining were evaluated by flow cytometry.ResultsIDOE inhibited the growth of A549 and T47D cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner with IC50 values of 10.46 and 1.3 μg/mL, respectively. IDOE was not significantly toxic to normal lymphocytes. The cells became detached from the monolayer and rounded up, had fragmented nuclei and condensed chromatin, and the numbers of apoptotic cells increased (P = 0.0003). IDOE-induced cell death was associated with activated caspase-3 expression followed by cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase.ConclusionsIDOE inhibited the proliferation of breast cancer cells and lung carcinoma cells and induced caspase-3-mediated apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in the treated cells.