Objective To investigate the mechanism of proliferation and apoptosis of human androgen-refractory prostate cancer PC-3 cell line by tetrandrine. Methods The effects of TET（1 μg/mL，2 μg/ml，4 μg/mL，8 μg/mL）on the growth of PC-3 cell line were measured by CCK assay. The apoptosis of cell line induced by TET（1 μg/mL，2 μg/mL，4 μg/mL，8 μg/mL） was evaluated by Annexin-V and PI followed by flow cytometry （FCM）. The effects of TET on the expression of IL-8 were measured by RT-PCR.Results TET inhibited the proliferation of PC-3 cell line in a dose dependent manner. After treated with TET（1 μg/mL，2 μg/mL，4 μg/mL，8 μg/mL）for 48 h, the apoptotic rate increased with the increase of drug concentration（P<0.01）.Similarly，the expression of IL-8 mRNA decreased gradually with the increase of drug concentration（P<0.01）.Conclusions TET can inhibt the proliferation of PC-3 cell line，and induce apoptosis. This may be associated with the decreasing expression of IL-8 mRNA.
