Scutellarin combined with Lidocaine: a new combination of anti-glioma drugs

Background Glioma is the most common primary intracranial tumors. Although great achievements in the treatment have been made, the efficacy is still not satisfactory, which imposes a great burden on patients and society. Therefore, the exploration of new and effective anti-glioma drugs is urgent. Methods Human glioma cells U251 and LN229 cells were included in the study. The proliferation was detected by cell counting kit-8, plate clone formation assay, EdU incorporation assay and xCELLigence real-time cell analyzer. The cell apoptosis was evaluated by TUNEL assay and flow cytometry. The transwell assay was for assessing the migration. Moreover, Western blot was performed to detect the protein level of Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Results In present study, we found that Scutellarin(SCU) and Lidocaine suppressed the proliferation and migration, and induced the apoptosis of human glioma cells, including U251 and LN229 cells, in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the combination of Scutellarin and Lidocaine further restrained the proliferation and migration ability of U251 and LN229 cells, while induced their apoptosis. Mechanistically, the effect of Scutellarin and its combination with Lidocaine on glioma cells was partially associated with the downregulation of EGFR protein. Conclusions Scutellarin and Lidocaine exert a synergistic effect on suppressing the proliferation and migration and induce the apoptosis of glioma cells partly via repressing the EGFR expression.