Background: A chemotherapeutic agent, vincristine, inhibits spindle fiber formation in both the neoplastic and normal cells. Reversal of apoptotic effects may be exerted by folic acid and beta-carotene addition in vitro. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of folic acid and beta-carotene added alone or together on vincristine induced apoptosis in human multiple myeloma cell line ARH77 and human chronic myeloid leukemia cell line K562 cultures.
Materials and Methods: Apoptosis was induced by 10-5M vincristine added to the cultures for 24, 48 and 72 hours. Folic acid and beta-carotene were added alone or together in 10-3 M and 10-7M respectively. Cell viability of every culture was determined after which at least 500 cells were analyzed for apoptotic features. Statistical comparisons of ratios were made with two proportion z test.
Results: In ARH77 cells, no significant decrease in apoptotic cell ratios were determined after folic acid and beta-carotene addition alone or together (p >0.05). Whereas, in K562 cells, after incubation with vincristine for 24 hours, apoptotic cell ratios were significantly reduced by folic acid and beta-carotene treatment one at a time or together (p
|
