Mitomycin C radical cation studied by pulse radiolysis.

The formation of the radical cation of mitomycin C (MMC.+) was investigated in aqueous solution by a pulse radiolysis method using SO4.- species as one electron oxidizing agent. The spectroscopic and kinetic characteristics of MMC.+ transients were determined, namely: absorption maxima at 295, 400 and 500 nm, the corresponding molar extinction coefficients are [symbol: see text] 295 = 5.63 x 10(3) dm3 mol-1 cm-1, [symbol: see text] 400 = 2.9 x 10(3) dm3 mol-1 cm-1, [symbol: see text] 500 = 2.32 x 10(3) dm3 mol-1 cm-1; the rate constant for formation of MMC.+ is k = (1.2 +/- 0.2) x 10(10) dm3 mol-1 s-1 and for decay 2k = (4.6 +/- 0.4) x 10(8) dm-3 mol-1 s-1. Based on this fact it can be assumed that not only the well-known mitomycin C radical anion (semiquinone, MMC.-) is efficiently involved in the radiotherapy process, but in a given oxidation environment the MMC.+ species could also play a role in this respect.

Mitomycin C-activity effected by vitamins B1, C, E and beta-carotene under irradiation with gamma-rays.

Vitamin B1 (thiamine) can essentially effect the activity of mitomycin C (MMC), added individually or in combination with antioxidant vitamins (C, E-acetate, beta-carotene) as found in experiments in vitro (Escherichia coli bacteria, AB 1157) under irradiation with gamma-rays. The environment plays a crucial role. In airfree media vitamin B1 leads to a 2-fold increase of the MMC-efficiency, but adding vitamin C it decreases. In the presence of all vitamins (B1, C, E-ac., and beta-carotene) the MMC-action increases about 1.8-fold. In aerated media vitamin B1 causes an about 4-times increase of the MMC-efficiency, but by adding vitamin B1 and C the MMC-activity decreases by a factor of two, whereas in the presence of B1, C, E-ac., and beta-carotene it rises again to 2.6-fold. In environment saturated with N2O (conversion of e(-)aq into OH radicals) a different picture is observed. The presence of vitamin B1 or vitamin B1 + C causes a strong decrease of the MMC-efficiency, but the addition of all vitamins (B1, C, E-ac., and beta-car.) leads to a small increase of the cytostatic action. The results demonstrate the influence of vitamin B1 used individually or in combination with other antioxidants on the MMC-efficiency and the strong effect of the environment. The results are of interest for the application of MMC in radiotherapy.

Influence of 1 and 25 Hz, 1.5 mT magnetic fields on antitumor drug potency in a human adenocarcinoma cell line.

The resistance of tumor cells to antineoplastic agents is a major obstacle during cancer chemotherapy. Many authors have observed that some exposure protocols to pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) can alter the efficacy of anticancer drugs; nevertheless, the observations are not clear. We have evaluated whether a group of PEMF pulses (1.5 mT peak, repeated at 1 and 25 Hz) produces alterations of drug potency on a multidrug resistant human colon adenocarcinoma (HCA) cell line, HCA-2/1(cch). The experiments were performed including (a) exposures to drug and PEMF exposure for 1 h at the same time, (b) drug exposure for 1 h, and then exposure to PEMF for the next 2 days (2 h/day). Drugs used were vincristine (VCR), mitomycin C (MMC), and cisplatin. Cell viability was measured by the neutral red stain cytotoxicity test. The results obtained were: (a) The 1 Hz PEMF increased VCR cytotoxicity (P < 0.01), exhibiting 6.1% of survival at 47.5 microg/ml, the highest dose for which sham exposed groups showed a 19.8% of survival. For MMC at 47.5 microg/ml, the % of survival changed significantly from 19.2% in sham exposed groups to 5.3% using 25 Hz (P < 0.001). Cisplatin showed a significant reduction in the % of survival (44.2-39.1%, P < 0.05) at 25 Hz and 47.5 microg/ml, and (b) Minor significant alterations were observed after nonsimultaneous exposure of cells to PEMF and drug. The data indicate that PEMF can induce modulation of cytostatic agents in HCA-2/1(cch), with an increased effect when PEMF was applied at the same time as the drug. The type of drug, dose, frequency, and duration of PEMF exposure could influence this modulation.