O248: Treatment of gastric cancer cell line AGS with cannabidiol (CBD) induces loss of mitochondrial membrane potential

Abstract Introduction Cannabinoids have been shown to have anti-cancer properties for a variety of tumour sites; however, the mechanisms that underpin these effects are poorly understood. Apoptosis is implicated as the likely mechanism of action by which cannabinoids induce cell death. The loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) is observed in apoptotic cells and has been linked to induction of the apoptotic process. This study aimed to assess whether exposure to CBD induced loss of MMP. Method AGS cells were sub-cultured as recommended. When cells reached 70% confluence, they were treated with either control (ethanol), 5 µM, 10 µM or 20 µM CBD. After 24 hours, the MMP assay was performed using the NC-3000 advanced image cytometer to assess the mitochondrial uptake of JC-1 dye. Cells with a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential are represented as percentage of the total cell population and expressed as mean ± SE mean (N=3). The ANOVA test was used to determine statistical significance. Results Treatment with control induced loss of MMP in 8.4 ± 1.7% of cells. Treatment with 5 µM, 10 µM or 20 µM CBD induced a loss of MMP in 6.7 ± 1.4 %, 10.3 ± 2.2% and 44.7 ± 2.8 % of cells respectively. Treatment with 20µM CBD induced a statistically significant loss of MMP when compared to control (p<0.05). Conclusions AGS cells treated with CBD undergo loss of MMP. This finding could indicate that treatment is inducing apoptosis. Further investigations into apoptotic mechanisms are required to confirm the findings.