Over 2 million Americans are currently living with prostate cancer. Current chemotherapeutic strategies are only partially effective in controlling the disease. There is always a need for an effective newer drug for treating prostate cancer. Use of active principles from medically important herbs has proven to be effective in treating various forms of cancers. Glycyrrhizin, a triterpene compound isolated from roots of licorice has been found to exhibit potent in vitro cytotoxic activity against several human cancer cell lines. In this study, we evaluated the effects of glycyrrhizin on the viability of two human prostate cancer cells LNCaP (hormone-dependent) and DU-145 (hormone-independent) in vitro. Cell viability assay showed that glycyrrhizin inhibited the cell proliferation of prostate cancer cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The decreased viability of prostate cancer cells was due to apoptosis as confirmed by Annexin-V FITC flow cytometric analyses. Glycyrrhizin also caused DNA damage in DU-145 and LNCaP cells in a time-dependent manner. Caspase-3 and -8 activities were not detected in glycyrrhizin-treated prostate cancer cells suggesting that caspase-independent pathways may be involved in the apoptotic mechanism. Collectively, these studies suggest that glycyrrhizin has therapeutic potential against prostate cancer.

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