BACKGROUND: Adenanthin, a diterpenoid isolated from the leaves of Rabdosia adenantha, has anti-tumor activities. However, its role and mechanism in pancreatic cancer are unclear. This study aims to elucidate the mechanism of adenanthin induced death of pancreatic cancer cells by regulating hydrogen peroxide (H METHODS: Adenanthin was used to detect its cell activity on pancreatic cancer cells (Aspc-1) using the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and colony forming assays. Hoechst 33258 fluorescence staining and flow cytometry related experiments were used to detect its impact on apoptosis and cell cycle of Aspc-1 cells. Western blot was used to detect the expression of cycle and apoptosis related proteins, and the concentration of H RESULTS: Adenanthin can inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells. The results of propidium iodide (PI) single staining flow cytometry showed that adenanthin significantly blocked Aspc-1 cells in the S phase and G2/M phase. Further exploration of its mechanism found that adenanthin significantly increased the content of H CONCLUSIONS: In pancreatic cancer, adenanthin can significantly increase the content of H