SUMMARYObjective: It has been shown that hydroxytryrosol (HT) has antitumoral, anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects on various cancer cell line types. In this study, we investigated cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of HTon human ovarian cancer cell lines OVCAR-3 and MDAH-2774 and relationship of its cytotoxic effects with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt (PI3K/Akt) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK 1/2) signaling pathways. Method: XTT cell proliferation kit, Cell Death Detection Elisa Plus Kit and Human Apoptosis Array test were used to determine the cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of HT in OVCAR-3 and MDAH-2774 cell lines at 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours (h). Effect of HT on PI3K/Akt and ERK 1/2 signaling pathways were investigated by using specific inhibitors of these pathways. Results: IC50 values of HT were found to be 102.3 μM in MDAH-2774 cells at 72 h and 51.5 μM in OVCAR-3 cells at 96 h. Highest apoptotic effect was seen at 100 μM concentration in OVCAR-3 cells at 96 h and at 50 μM at 72 h in MDAH-2774. HT increased the levels of pro-apoptotic molecules including Bad, Bax, active caspase-3, Htra2/Omi and of proapoptotic death receptors TRAIL R1/DR4, TRAIL R2/DR5, FAS/TNFRSF6 and decreased Survivin levels in MDAH-2774 cells. In OVCAR-3 cells, HT decreased Bcl-2, pro-caspase 3 and CIAP-1, CIAP-2, XIAP, Livin, Survivin levels and increased cytochrome-c level. The cell vitality was increased in both of the cell lines as the result of the treatment with HT and FR180204. Conclusions: These results show that HT has potential cytotoxic and apoptotic effect on OVCAR-3 and MDAH-2774 cells. In both cell lines, the cytotoxic effect of HT could be ocur inhibiting through ERK 1/2 signaling pathway.