Lymphoma is a hematological malignancy that origi­nates from lymph nodes and lymphoid tissues and is divided into Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and non‑Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), based on its histopathological characteristics. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of arsenic sulfide (As2S2), the main ingredient of realgar, on the proliferation and apoptosis of the Raji B‑cell lymphoma and Jurkat T‑cell lymphoma lines, comparing the sensitivity between the two cell lines and investigating the possible underlying mechanisms. The two lymphoma cell lines were cultured in vitro, using different concentrations of As2S2 for different time periods. The cell proliferation was detected using the Cell counting kit‑8 (CCK‑8). apoptosis was assessed via flow cytometry. expression levels of the apoptosis‑associated genes [Homo sapiens Bcl‑2‑associated X protein (BAX), Homo sapiens B‑cell CLL/lymphoma 2 (Bcl‑2), Homo sapiens Bcl‑2‑like protein 1 (BCL2L1, Bcl‑xl), Homo sapiens v‑myc myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homolog (avian) (MYC, c‑Myc) and Homo sapiens pim‑1 oncogene (PIM)] were measured via the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‑PCR) method. The results demonstrated that As2S2 inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in the two lymphoma cell lines in a time‑ and concentration‑dependent manner, with the Raji cells being more sensitive to As2S2 compared to Jurkat cells. As2S2 may also alter the expression levels of different apoptosis‑associated genes, with the alterations of the mRNA expression levels being different between Raji and Jurkat cells. These findings indicated that As2S2 may inhibit the proliferation and promote the apoptosis of non‑Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) cell lines and that B‑cell lymphoma cell lines are more sensitive compared to T‑cell lymphoma cell lines. The possible underlying mechanism is that As2S2 alters the expression levels of the apoptosis‑associated genes and activates apoptosis‑associated signaling pathways.

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