• Effect of Ivermectin on The Induction of Apoptosis in HepG2 Cell Line
  • Mohammad Hossein Gholami,1 Sepideh Mirzaei,2 Sima Orouie,3 Negin Esfandiari,4,*
    1. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kazerun Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kazerun, Iran
    2. Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
    3. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran
    4. Department of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, Division of Epidemiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.


  • Introduction: Liver cancer is ranked third in the causes of cancer mortality around the world. Liver cancer poses a substantial public health issue due to its profound influence on our well-being. The development of sustainable and dependable approaches for preventing and treating liver cancer necessitates fundamental research into its molecular mechanisms. Cell lines serve as in vitro counterparts of tumor tissues, rendering them indispensable for fundamental research into the cancer nature. Ivermectin is a wide range acting drug used against several disease types including cancer. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of ivermectin on HepG2 liver cancer cell line.
  • Methods: HepG2 cells were cultured in DMEM medium containing 10% FBS and treated with 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.5, and 8 µM concentration of ivermectin. After 72 hours they were evaluated by MTT assay for their viability. For studying the morphology of cells, Giemsa and invert microscopy were used. The expression of apoptotic genes, Bax, Bad, and Bcl-2, was also evaluated by real-time PCR. All data were analyzed using SPSS version 27.
  • Results: MTT assay showed the IC50 of ivermectin to be 0.4 µM. Peak apoptotic effect was recorded on the 8 µM concentration, which eliminated 90.5% of HepG2 cells. In the results of PCR, elevation of Bax and Bad genes and reduction of Bcl-2 gene were evident.
  • Conclusion: The present study showcased the apoptotic anti-tumor activity of ivermectin against HepG2 cell line. This can suggest the use of ivermectin against liver cancer, but more studies will be needed for further investigation.
  • Keywords: Ivermectin, HepG2 cell line, Apoptosis, PCR, MTT