5-aminolevulinic acid and sodium ferrous citrate decreased cell viability of gastric cancer cells by enhanced ROS generation through improving COX activity

BACKGROUND

Mitochondrial dysfunctions are related to cancer development.. 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is used for photodynamic therapy (PDT). In this PDT, protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), which is converted from ALA, can generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) that kill the cancer cell. ALA is also reported to promote cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity, which can generate ROS itself. Therefore, this study focused on the effect of ALA during PDT. In addition, in the previous study, sodium ferrous citrate (SFC) is reported to increase COX activity. So, this study also aims to improve the COX activity by the addition of SFC that can promote ROS generation, which has a cytotoxic effect.

METHODS

In this study, we used ALA and SFC, then evaluated the effects of the treatment on the human gastric cancer cell line MKN45, including the induction of cell death.

RESULTS

This study showed that treatment with ALA and SFC increases intracellular heme and heme proteins. Moreover, COX activity was promoted, resulting in the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), which eventually reduced the cell viability in human gastric cancer cell line MKN45.

CONCLUSION

Our study can detect ROS generation with ALA and SFC. Furthermore, we found this generation of ROS has a cytotoxic effect. Therefore, this phenomenon contributes to the effect of PDT.

The effects of luteinizing hormone as a suppression factor for apoptosis in bovine luteal cells in vitro

The fate of the corpus luteum, a transient endocrine gland formed and degraded during an oestrous cycle, is decided by various physiological factors, such as luteinizing hormone (LH). As a stimulator of progesterone, LH is known to maintain corpus luteum functional and structural integrity by inhibiting apoptosis, a programmed cell death. Therefore, we aim to investigate its action during the mid-luteal phase hypothesized that LH suppresses the death mechanism of bovine luteal steroidogenic cells (LSC) by analysing the expression of proteins involved. Cultured bovine LSC obtained from corpus luteum were treated for 24 hr with recombinant TNF and IFNG in the presence or absence of LH. The result showed that LH proved to have a protective effect by increased cell viability (p < .05) and prevented DNA fragmentation (p < .05), as demonstrated by the WST-1 colorimetric assay and TUNEL assay. Expression analysis of mRNA and protein levels showed that LH altered the expression of BCL2 (p < .05), CASP3 (p < .05), FAS (p < .05), and BAX (p < .05) to support cell survival. In conclusion, our study suggests that LH prolongs the corpus luteum life span through the anti-apoptotic mechanism by increasing cell viability and suppressing apoptosis-related genes and protein expression.

The impact of late follicular progesterone level on in vitro fertilization-intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcome: Case-control study

Background

Studies have been conducted to improve the pregnancy rate through the in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) program. In recent years, researchers have been focusing on finding impact of high progesterone level on endometrial receptivity. However, data on whether progesterone level also affects the quality of the embryo is still limited.

Objective

The aim is to assess the effect of late follicular progesterone level on the outcome of in vitro fertilization-intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF-ICSI).

Materials and Methods

This was a case-control of 245 women who underwent in vitro fertilization cycle at Halim Fertility Center, Indonesia. The outcomes assessed were number of oocytes retrieved (OR), maturation rate (MR), fertilization rate (FR), number of good embryos (GE), number of fair embryos (FE), and number of poor embryos (PE). The progesterone (P4) and estradiol (E2) levels were analyzed on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin injection. Serum progesterone level was divided into three groups: 1. low progesterone (≤ 0.50 ng/ml), 2. normal progesterone (0.51-1.50 ng/ml), and 3. high progesterone (> 1.50 ng/ml). All outcomes were compared amongst the groups.

Results

Significant differences occurred between progesterone level on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin administration. The number of OR in group 1, 2, and 3 were 8.41 ± 5.88 vs. 12.99 ± 8.51 vs. 17.58 ± 9.52, respectively.

Conclusion

Progesterone level on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin injection may have an impact on the outcome of IVF-ICSI.