Vitamin D3, arsenic trioxide, or combination therapy for acute promyelocytic leukemia

• Published in: Gene reports Vol. 27; p. 101576
• Main Authors: Lashkari, Mahla, Fatemi, Ahmad, Farsinejad, Alireza, Valandani, Hajar Mardani, Khalilabadi, Roohollah Mirzaee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.06.2022
• Subjects: Acute Promyelocytic leukemia; Arsenic trioxide (ATO); Combination therapy; Vitamin-D3; Arsenic trioxide (ATO); Acute Promyelocytic leukemia; Combination therapy; Vitamin-D3
• ISSN: 2452-0144; 2452-0144
• DOI: 10.1016/j.genrep.2022.101576

Arsenic trioxide (ATO) has been a highly promising chemotherapeutic drug for treating APL patients in the last decades. Owing to its complications, researchers are enthusiastic about applying compounds with fewer side effects, especially in a combined modality. Therefore, due to the anti-cancer properties of VitD3, our investigation was aimed to highlight the Vit-D3/ATO combination effects on the NB4 leukemic cells. The APL cell line (NB4) was cultured with various VitD3, ATO, and Vit-D3/ATO concentrations. Afterward, the cell viability was evaluated via MTT and trypan blue assays. In addition, the apoptosis and Gene expression were assessed using Flow cytometry and qRT-PCR, respectively. Our findings revealed that Vit-D3 applied apoptotic and growth inhibitory effects in a dose and time-dependent manner. Moreover, Vit-D3/ATO combination augmented the effects of ATO on regulated cell death via a remarkable elevation in the BAX/BCL-2 ratio in comparison with single treatments. Given the synergistic effects of the Vit-D3/ATO combination, our study suggests a promising therapeutic strategy for APL treatment. •Vit-D3 and ATO Combination synergistically inhibit the NB4 cells' viability.•Vit-D3 and ATO Combination synergistically decreases NB4 cells' metabolic activity.•Vit-D3 and ATO Combination synergistically increase the apoptosis in NB4 cells.•Vit-D3 and ATO Combination synergistically increased the BAX/BCL-2 genes expression.