[Cytotoxic effects of cyclooxygenase enzyme inhibitor drugs [COX1, COX2] on KB cell line: an in-vitro study]

Cyclooxygenase enzyme inhibitors have been recently investigated regarding their inhibitory effect on cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the cytotoxic effects of cyclooxygenase enzyme inhibitor drugs on KB cell line [squamous cell carcinoma] in vitro. This experimental study used the powder of Ibuprophen, Indomethacin, Acetaminophen, Naproxen, Celecoxib, Mefenamic acid, Diclofenac Na, Aspirin and Piroxicam. These drugs were dissolved in proper solvents according to specified company instructions [SIGMA Company]. The KB cell lines were proliferated through MTT Assay method. The concentration of drugs that causes 50% decrease in cell growth was computed [IC50]. Post-hoc test was used to compare the effect of various concentrations of drugs on vitality of cells and variance test was applied to compare the mean of IC50 between various drugs by using SPSS version 13.5 statistical software. This study showed that Celecoxibt, Mefenamic Acid and Diclofenac Na drugs have cytotoxicity effects on KB cell line with the IC50 values of 1.5, 4.5 and 15.4 micro g/ml, respectively. Also, it was found that the Naproxen, Indomethacin and Aspirin drugs with the IC50 mean of 50 micro g/ml can inhibit cell growth. Celecoxib and Diclofenac Na drugs have cytotoxicity effects. Therefore, at the experimental stage, these medicines have the potential to be used as oral anticancer drugs

[Evaluation of lead acetate exposure on the growth and expression of bax in cultured human embryonic astrocytes]

Lead [pb] is an environmental toxicant which can induce structural and functional abnormalities in central nervous system, specially in young children. In this experimental study, we evaluated the toxic effects of lead on human fetal astrocyte cells. At the first stage, the growth inhibition effects of short and long term exposure to lead were evaluated by 3-[4,5- dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide [MTT] assay. Furthermore, the effect of Foetal Calf Serum [FCS] on lead toxicity was evaluated by above method. At the second stage, we applied immunocytochemistry [ICC] to analysis the effects of lead on the expression of stress related bax gene. The lead toxicity was observed at a concentration of >1mM [p=0.000]. Continuous lead exposure also [250 and 500 micro M for 7 days] caused a significant growth inhibition [p<0.01] of astroastes. The results showed the protective effect of FCS against lead toxicity. Lead exposure also induced bax gene expression. These results show that lead may disturb the function of astrocytes and therefore and may interfere with development of fetal nervous system

[In vitro cytotoxicity evaluation of sixteen new n-piperazinyl quinolone derivatives against a panel of tumor cell lines]

Fluoroquinolones are potent inhibitors of bacterial topoisomerase II. They can also inhibit eukaryotic topoisomerase, and may confer antitumoral properties. In this study the antitumoral activity of a new series of N-substituted piperazinyl- fluoroquinolones against a panel of human tumor cell lines was determined by MTT assays. Among the tested compounds N-[2- [5-bromo-2-thienyl]-2-oxoethyl] [C1,N1,E1], N-[2- [5-bromo-2-thienyl]-2-[hydroxyimino] ethyl][C2,N2,E2] and N-[2-[5-bromo-2-thienyl]-2-[phenylmethoxyimino] ethyl] [C3,N3,E3] piperazinyl quinolones exhibited the most cytotoxic activities [mean IC50s = 2.5 to 3 microg/ml], comparable to that of the Etoposide [mean IC50= 1.7micro g/ml]. Replacement of the 5- bromo-2-thienyl with 4- fluorophenyl or 2, 6- difluorophenyl rings leads to variable inhibition activity. The quinolone activity was enhanced by the presence of a chlorine and two fluorine atoms at the benzyl and phenyl groups, especially against ACHN renal adenocarcinoma cell line. These data suggest that these series of quinolones provide good models for the further design of potent antitumor compounds

Analysis of l6ad effect on the osteoblast cells within the spine of human fetus and expression of Bax gene in-vivo

Bone is the main source of lead concentration and is presumed as one of the main targets of the toxic effects of this heavy metal. This study have evaluated the toxic effects of lead on the primary culture of the vertebrate of the human fetus and the expression of the Bax protein in the cell. The present investigation is a laboratory study which initially a primary culture of the vertebrate of the human fetus was prepared by the enzymatic digestion and quantity of the osteoblast cells were then determined by Alkaline phosphatase assay. The effects of lead exposure at serially made concentrations of l0 micro mol to 1.5 micro mol on the cell proliferation, was evaluated in a culture containing 5 and 10 percentages of fetal bovine serum [FBS] by MTT assay [Methyl Thiazolyl Blue Tetrazolium Bromide]. In addition the effects of 0.1 micro mol of lead on Bax gene expression in osteoblast cells was analyzed by immunocytochemistry method. Quantitative analysis of osteoblast cells in the primary culture by the Alkaline phosphatase assay was determined as 80 to 85%. The lead concentrations of 100 to 1500 micromole caused 40 to 81% increase in the cell proliferation in culture containing 10% of FBS. The most growth stimulation was observed at the concentration of micro mol [p<0.001]. By decreasing the FBS, the inhibitory proliferative activities of lead increased as such that the cell growth showed an increase of 15 to 103% with concentration of 10 to l000 jumol, and a decrease was observed in cell growth about 72% in a lead concentration of 1.5 micro mol [p<0.001]. The most cell proliferation stimulation was seen in a concentration of 500 micro mol [p<0.001]. Osteoblast cells exposure to 0.1 micro mol of lead caused an increase in the amount of Bax protein in the cytoplasm in compare with the control culture. The result of this study shows that lead may disturb the natural physiologic function of the bone cells and this heavy metal may act as a mitogenic element

In Vitro study of cytotoxic effects of new Norfloxacin derivatives on humancancer cell lines

In this in vitro study a series of new norfloxacin derivatives with an oxime or a substituted oxime attached to the piperazine ring at C-7 position were evaluated for their cytotoxicity on Human Cancer Cell Lines. The growth inhibitory activity of these compounds was determined for human cancer cell lines including bladder carcinoma [EJ138], renal adenocarcinoma [ACHN], breast adenocarcinoma [MCF-7], hepatocyte carcinoma [HEPG2], lung carcinoma [A549] and rat-Adrenal fibroblast-pheochromocytoma [PC-12] using colorimetric MTT assay. The results showed that the norfloxacin derivatives tested in this study showed significant inhibitory activity for cancer cell lines. Some of the compounds such as Cl, C9, CIO and Cll exhibited the most inhibitory activity against MCF-7 and PC-12 with IC50 value of 9 microM [p<0.05]. Among the cell lines tested, PC-12 was very sensitive to these compounds. The known cytotoxic drug, Etoposide, demonstrated the most significant activities against all the cell lines tested with IC50 value less than 1.7 microM [p<0.00l]. The results indicated that the synthesized norfloxacin derivatives tested in this study, although they act mostly as antibacterial agents, they can also affect the function of the type 2 DNA topoisomerase in eukaryotic cells. Further studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms by which these derivatives act

[Evaluation of in vitro immune response of opioid dependent individuals by measurement of cytokines [interferon-gamma and interleukin-10] induced by cell stimulation compared with normal individuals]

Few studies concerning the effects of opioid drugs on the function of immune system have been conducted and conflicting results have been reported. This study evaluates the in-vitro immune responses of drug abusers and investigates the pattern of production of IFN- gamma and IL-10 which represents the subsets of CD4 +T-helper cells Blood samples were taken from healthy drug addicted volunteers. Blood samples were also taken from healthy individuals with no history of drug abuse as control. Cell culture was performed in whole blood culture assay. Diluted blood samples were stimulated with phytohemagglutinin [PHA] and lipopolysaccharide [LPS] and the supernatants were collected to measure the cytokine production. The results demonstrated that a significant decrease in IFN- gamma production and increase in IL-10 production in heroin addicts, whereas the production of these cytokines in opium addicts was not significantly different from those in control group. The results indicated a significant decrease in mitogenic responsiveness of T-cells in heroin addicts relative to control group, whereas mitogenic responsiveness of T-cells in opium addicts was not significantly different from control group