Enhancing Effects of Curcumin on Cytotoxicity of Paclitaxel, Methotrexate and Vincristine in Gastric Cancer Cells

Abstract

<br /> <span style="font-size: small;">Curcumin (Diferuloylmethane), a polyphenolic compound with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">properties, has been found to increase chemotherapeutic agents-induced cytotoxicity in some resistant cancer cell </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">lines. This investigation aimed to study the effects of curcumin on efficacy of some common anticancer agents in </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">gastric cancer cells. AGS cells were cultured in RPMI-1640 medium under standard culture conditions (5% CO2 and </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">95% humidified air at 37°C). Curcumin was used at concentrations of 5, 15, 30 and 50 μM. Cells were treated with a combination of curcumin and paclitaxel (300 nm) or methotrexate (100 μm) or vincristine (5 nm). Cell viability, the </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">percentage of live cells in the whole population, was evaluated by MTT assay after 48 hours. The results showed that </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">cell viability was significantly decreased after incubation of AGS cells with curcumin. Combination with curcumin (15-50 μm) significantly increased cytotoxicity of all three agents (P<0.001). Regarding high anticancer potential and </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">enhancement of chemotherapeutic agent-induced cytotoxicity, the combined use of curcumin with standard chemotherapy of gastric cancer is suggested as a strategy for better management of this fatal cancer. </span></span>