Abstract: Selaginella involven, an herbal medicine,was traditionally used to treat cardiovascular diseases.In this study, S.involven ethanol extract was applied to esophagus squamous carcinoma cell (EC-9706) cultured in vitro for evaluating its effect of inhibiting EC-9706 proliferation.Meanwhile,NO-cGMP pathway as a potential key gateway was investigated by determining the level variation of nitric oxide (NO),nitricoxide synthase (NOS) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) in EC-9706,and hepatoprotective effects of S.involven were observed as well.The results showed that S.involven decreased the levels of NO,NOS and cGMP in EC-9706 cells,and suppressed cell proliferation.In addition, S.involven showed hepatoprotective effects on hepatic cell of mice cultured in vitro.

Key words: Selaginellae involven, esophagus carcinoma, NO, cGMP, hepatic cell