Objective To explore the impacts of sinomenine on the proliferation of human colon cancer SW620 cells and on the expression levels of TNF-α,IL-23 and β-catenin.Methods For the human colon cancer SW620 cells cultured in vitro and treated with sinomenine of different concentrations,MTT method was applied to observe the change in the proliferation of cells,ELISA method was taken to detect the contents of TNF-α and IL-23 in cell culture fluid and Western blotting method was used to detect the expression level of β-catenin in human colon cancer cells.Results Compared with the blank control group,the sinomenine significantly inhibited the proliferation of human colon cancer SW620 cells,and there were concentration and time dependence and statistical difference among the groups of different concentrations(P < 0.05);compared with the blank control group,after the action of sinomenine on human colon cancer SW620 cells,the expression levels of TNF-α and IL-23 in cell supernatant decreased significantly (P < 0.01) and the expression level of β-catenin in SW620 cells also decreased significandy (P < 0.05).Conclusion Sinomenine can inhibit the proliferation of human colon cancer SW620 cells;its mechanism may be relevant to the down-regulated expression of TNF-α,IL-23 and β-catenin.