Figure 4.

Combination treatment with lemongrass extract enhances chemotherapeutic anticancer efficacy in prostate cancer cells. (a) DU-145 cells were treated with chemotherapeutics taxol (top panel) and mitoxantrone (bottom panel) individually and in combination with 0.01 mg/mL LGE and assessed at 48 hours. Results were obtained using image-based cytometry to assess the percentage of cells positive with fluorescence associated with Annexin V (green), propidium iodide (PI, red), both (yellow), or negative for both Annexin V and PI (blue). Values are expressed as a mean ± SD from three independent experiments. The percentage of viable cells was graphed for both individual chemotherapeutic and combination chemotherapeutic treatments (graphs on right). (b) Fluorescence microscopy images of individual and hibiscus combination chemotherapeutic treatments. Top panels: brightfield and fluorescent merged images at 400x magnification. Bottom: fluorescent images stained with Annexin V (green), PI (red), and Hoechst (blue) at 400× magnification. Scale bar is 50 microns. Images are representative of three independent experiments. Statistical calculations were performed using Two-Way ANOVA multiple comparison. ∗p < 0.05 vs. control, ∗∗p < 0.01 vs. control, ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001 vs. control, @p<0.05 vs. individual chemotherapy treatment.