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Department of Medical Oncology, Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital (A.K.P., V.K.), All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi INDIA
Department of Biochemistry (N.S., N.K., V.G.R.), All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi INDIA
Center for Vitamin and Cancer Research, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado (K.N.P.)
Address correspondence to: Dr. Neeta Singh, Additional Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi 110 029, INDIA. E-mail: singh_neeta{at}hotmail.com
| ABSTRACT |
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Methods: Human lung squamous cell carcinoma cell line, H520, was treated with antioxidant mixture (vitamin C, vitamin E and beta carotene), paclitaxel and carboplatin, individually and in combination of different doses in different sequences. Growth inhibition and induction of apoptosis was studied by morphological changes, MTT assay and flow-cytometric analysis.
Results: The antioxidant mixture by itself led to 15% apoptosis in H520 cells. Paclitaxel treatment 24 hours prior to carboplatin caused 54% apoptosis, more than that produced by simultaneous treatment with both agents (40%). A statistically significant improvement in the degree of apoptosis, induced by paclitaxel and carboplatin combination, was seen when the cells were pretreated with antioxidant mixture immediately before paclitaxel exposure (70%) or 24 hours before paclitaxel exposure (89%).
Conclusion: The data suggests that the apoptotic effects of paclitaxel and carboplatin are enhanced by pretreatment with the antioxidant mixture. Thus, the most promising sequence of these agents, which emerged in this study, was pretreatment with antioxidant mixture for 24 hours followed by paclitaxel treatment for 24 hours followed by carboplatin exposure for 24 hours.
Key words: antioxidant mixture, chemotherapy, lung cancer, India, apoptosis
| INTRODUCTION |
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Though controversial, there is a possibility that in certain doses and combination, antioxidants may prevent the development of cancer [5,6]. In vitro studies indicate that vitamin C, vitamin E, retinoids and beta carotene individually or in combination may even induce cell differentiation and/or growth inhibition of human tumorigenic parotid acinar cells and human melanoma cells [5]. They have also been shown to enhance the growth-inhibitory effects of chemotherapeutic agents and x-radiation on human melanoma cells and murine neuroblastoma cells in culture [5]. A few animal studies support the observation that high dose of antioxidants inhibit the growth of tumors, such as oral carcinoma in hamsters and transplanted breast adenocarcinoma in rats [7,8].
These effects of antioxidants appear to be related to alterations in the expression of several oncogenes and growth regulatory genes [5]. Vitamins have also been found to induce apoptosis in the cancer cells while protecting the normal cells against the apoptosis induced by various agents [915]. The extent and type of effect depend on the dose and type of vitamins and the type of the tumor [5].
The present study was undertaken to evaluate the role of these vitamins in conjunction with the standard chemotherapeutic agents for NSCLC, i.e. paclitaxel, an antimicrotubule agent, and carboplatin, which forms DNA adducts. An MTT (3-4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay was done to find out the optimum dose of these agents that produces the maximum killing effect in NSCLC cells. Flow-cytometric analysis was carried out to study whether apoptosis induced by carboplatin and paclitaxel in combination could be enhanced by pretreatment with an antioxidant mixture in human lung cancer cells.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Cell Culture
H520 cell line was procured form the National Center for Cell Sciences (Pune, India). The cells were grown in RPMI 1640 media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum and maintained at 37°C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air.
Treatment of Cells
Dose range of paclitaxel was chosen on the basis of previous studies and previously standardized doses in which it was shown that a dose of 0.05 to 0.1 µmol was capable of inducing significant biological effects in vitro without being toxic [16]. Similarly, the effective and non-toxic dose of carboplatin reported in vitro is 0.51.5 µg/mL [17]. Two dose levels of antioxidant mixture were used in our study (Table 1). Dose level 1 was based upon earlier data [5] while dose level 2 was used to see whether doubling the dose enhances the efficacy of the mixture. The doses chosen for the antioxidants are commensurate with normal physiological serum levels.
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| RESULTS |
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Paclitaxel Induces A High Level of Cytotoxicity.
By itself, paclitaxel exposure for 24 hours caused a similar degree of cytotoxicity, i.e., 83% to 87%, over the entire dose range of 0.050.1 µmol. We therefore chose to do further experiments with the lowest dose of 0.05 µmol of paclitaxel (Table 2).
Induction of Cytotoxicity by Carboplatin.
Treatment of H520 cells for 24 hours with various doses of carboplatin, ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 µg/mL, caused a similar degree of cytotoxicity (about 22%). So we decided to do further studies with the minimum dose of carboplatin, i.e., 0.5 µg/mL (Table 2).
Flow-Cytometric Analysis
Effects of a Paclitaxel and Carboplatin Combination.
Combination of minimum effective doses of paclitaxel (0.05 µmol) and carboplatin (0.5 µg/mL) were used in different sequences to analyze the most effective sequence of treatment with these drugs (Table 3), and the results were analyzed by flow-cytometry. Apoptosis was found to be significantly higher (p = 0.047) when paclitaxel was added 24 hours prior to carboplatin (54.3%, Fig. 1c), as compared to when both were added simultaneously (40.3%, Fig. 1b) (Table 3).
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| DISCUSSION |
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Due to their different mechanisms of action and non-overlapping toxicity profile, paclitaxel and carboplatin have frequently been combined in NSCLC management. Pre-clinical and in vitro studies of paclitaxel and the platinum group of compounds have shown that the result of their combination depends largely upon the sequence and schedule in which these drugs are given, and maximum effect is observed when the carboplatin treatment is given 24 hours after the paclitaxel exposure [16].
It is well established that most chemotherapeutic agents and radiotherapy eliminate cancer cells by inducing apoptosis. We, therefore, did flow-cytometry to find out the level of apoptosis induced by paclitaxel and carboplatin combination. The results confirmed the observation of earlier studies that treatment with carboplatin 24 hours after paclitaxel is a better option as compared to simultaneous treatment with both the agents. A statistically significant (p = 0.047) level of apoptosis was observed when carboplatin was given 24 hours after paclitaxel treatment (54.30%), as compared to when carboplatin and paclitaxel were given simultaneously (40.30%) (Fig. 1, Table 3).
Various studies have investigated the role of antioxidant vitamins in the induction and regulation of apoptosis in cancer cells [915]. Individual vitamins/provitamins can induce direct or indirect apoptosis in cancer cells; for example, retinoic acid and
-tocopherol succinate (
-TS) causes apoptosis in human B lymphoma cells in culture [11]. The agents, however, can also stimulate antiapoptotic events in certain cancer cells, and these effects depend upon the dose, type and form of the agent and the type of tumor cell [9]. A mixture of antioxidant vitamins/provitamins is more effective than individual vitamin/provitamin in the induction of apoptosis, and there is no evidence that such a mixture ever stimulates anti-apoptotic events in cancer cells [9]. Antioxidant vitamins/provitamins may enhance the effect of direct acting apoptotic agents (x-rays, chemotherapeutic agents and hyperthermia) or indirect acting apoptotic agents (adenosine 3,5 cyclic monophosphate, butyric acid and interferon) and, in combination with these agents, produce a greater extent of apoptosis in cancer cells than these agents alone [19].
In contrast to vitamin/provitamin induced apoptosis in cancer cells, normal cells never undergo apoptosis after treatment with these agents (excluding retinoids) [9,20]. On the contrary, they protect normal cells against apoptosis induced by certain group of chemicals [9, 1215, 20]. For example,
-TS protected spinal cord organotypic cultures against etanidazole induced apoptosis [12], epidermoid cell culture against ultravoilet B induced apoptosis [13], and neuronal cultures against oxidative stress induced apoptosis [14]. In addition to vitamin E, retinoic acid also protects against activation induced T cell apoptosis and thus plays a role in the regulation of T cell development [15]. The reasons for this differential effect of vitamins are not known, and the genetic regulation of apoptosis in cancer cells has not been adequately defined.
To ascertain the effect of antioxidant vitamins/provitamins on H520 cells in this study, the cells were exposed to two dose levels (Table 1) of these agents, and their effect was studied using MTT assay. The antioxidants induced approximately 15% cytotoxicity in these cells and doubling the dose of the mixture did not improve the efficacy (Table 2). Further experiments were, therefore, carried out using the lower dose level only.
To evaluate the appropriate sequence, H520 cells were exposed to the antioxidant mixture immediately or 24 hours prior to paclitaxel/carboplatin treatment (Table 3, Fig. 1). Pretreatment with an antioxidant mixture enhanced the level of apoptosis induced by paclitaxel/carboplatin combination consistently (Table 3, Fig. 1). When the mixture was added immediately before paclitaxel, the level of apoptosis rose to 70.11% (Fig. 1d), as compared to maximum apoptosis (54.3%) (Fig. 1c) observed with a paclitaxel/carboplatin combination (p = 0.022). However, when the mixture was added 24 hours prior to paclitaxel, the level of apoptosis significantly rose to 89.15% (Fig. 1e) (p = 0.014).
These observations suggest that antioxidant vitamins/provitamins with paclitaxel and carboplatin therapy may have utility in the treatment of lung cancer. Pretreatment with antioxidant mixture followed by paclitaxel and carboplatin exhibited greater than additive effect indicating a potential synergistic combination for NSCLC. This combination thus may provide more efficacious treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.
The results of our study show that the antioxidant vitamins/provitamins induce cytotoxicity by themselves in H520 cells. These agents also enhance the level of apoptosis induced by the combination of paclitaxel and carboplatin. Thus it seems that the response rate to this chemotherapy regimen in the management of NSCLC might be improved with the addition of an antioxidant mixture. A higher level of apoptosis has been found to be associated with longer survival in NSCLC [21]. The mechanism of action of these agents in the induction of apoptosis is not very clear. Further studies need to be carried out to investigate this aspect.
Another rationale for using antioxidants in combination with chemotherapeutic agents involves the possible reduction of toxicity of several chemotherapeutic agents on normal cells by these agents [2235]. The antioxidant mixture is more effective than the individual components in protecting normal cells against radiation damage [35]. This particular aspect, however, was not evaluated in the present study.
| CONCLUSION |
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Received August 21, 2001. Accepted February 14, 2002.
| REFERENCES |
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