Effect of the combination of nitoxantrone and cisplatin on glioma cell line U87

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effects of the combination of mitoxantrone(NVT) and cisplatin(CDDP) on the proliferation of U87 glioma cells in vitro.Methods Different concentrations of NVT(0.31,0.63,1.25,2.5,5 or 10) with or without same concentrations of CDDP were administered to U87 cell cultures and MTT assay was used to detect the proliferation of U87 cell proliferation.RT-PCR was used to detect Bcl-2 and Bax gene expression.Results MTT assay showed that NVT at concentration 0.3125 μg/mLwith the same concentration of CDDP could significantly inhibit the proliferation of U87 cells(67.7±1.5).Bax but not Bcl-2 gene expression was significantly higher in CDDP group than in normal control group while Bcl-2 gene expression was significantly lower in both NVT low concentration and the combination groups compared with either control or CDDP alone groups.Conclusions U87 glioma cells in the NVT and CDDP chemotherapy combined effect of two drugs can induce the Bcl-2/Bax gene expression changes,collaborative play its role in inducing apoptosis,thereby enhancing tumor cell sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs.