Dihydroartemisinin‑induced apoptosis in human acute monocytic leukemia cells.

Dihydroartemisinin (DHA) is a derivative of artemisinin. The present study aimed to investigate whether DHA induces apoptosis in the THP‑1 human acute monocytic leukemia cell line (AMoL), and to identify the relative molecular mechanisms. The results of the present study demonstrated that the viability of THP‑1 cells were inhibited by DHA in a dose‑ and time‑dependent manner, which was accompanied by morphological characteristics associated with apoptosis. After 24 h of 200 μM DHA treatment, the proportion of apoptotic cells was significantly increased compared with the untreated controls (P<0.01). In addition, DHA downregulated the levels of B‑cell lymphoma (Bcl)‑2, protein kinase B (Akt)1, Akt2 and Akt3 gene expression, and increased the expression of the Bcl‑2‑associated X protein apoptosis regulator. The protein expression of phospho‑Akt and phospho‑extracellular signal‑regulated kinase (ERK) was also decreased, and the protein expression level of cleaved caspase‑3 was increased following treatment with DHA. Therefore, DHA may induce apoptosis in the AMoL THP‑1 cell line via currently unknown underlying molecular mechanisms, including the downregulation of ERK and Akt, and the activation of caspase‑3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]