Abstract
Malignant glioma, also known as brain cancer, is the most common intracranial tumor, having an extremely high mortality and recurrence rate. The survival rate of the affected patients is very low and treatment is difficult. Hence, growth inhibition of glioma has become a hot topic in the study of brain cancer treatment. Among the various isothiocyanate compounds, it has been confirmed that benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) can inhibit the growth of a variety of tumors, including leukemia, glioma and lung cancer, both inside and outside the body. This study explored inhibitory effects of BITC on human glioma U87MG cells, as well as potential mechanisms. It was found that BITC could inhibit proliferation, induce apoptosis and arrest cell cycling of U87MG cells. In addition, it inhibited the expression of SOD and GSH, and caused oxidative stress to tumor cells. Therefore, it is believed that BITC can inhibit the growth of U87MG cells outside the body. Its mechanism may be related to the fact that BITC can cause oxidative stress to tumor cells.
Highlights
The treatment of malignant glioma is mainly relying on surgical excision at present, supported by postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy
The MTS method was applied to observe the effect of benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) on the in-vitro growth of human glioma U87MG cells
The experimental results showed that: after BITC taking effect on human glioma U87MG cells for 72 h, cell proliferation was inhibited and exhibited the doseresponse relationship; its IC50 was equal to 15.2 μM (Figure 1)
Summary
The treatment of malignant glioma is mainly relying on surgical excision at present, supported by postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Researchers have studied more than 20 kinds of natural or synthetic isothiocyanate compounds and observed that they have a great inhibition effect on a variety of tumors. Recent epidemiological and experimental studies have shown that isothiocyanate compounds possess the potential to be developed into chemotherapy medicine, but the exact mechanism of their anti-tumor activity has not yet been fully understood (Kim et al, 2012; Pawlik et al, 2012; Zandalinas et al, 2012). This study intended to explore the inhibition effect of benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) on human glioma U87MG cells, as well as its potential mechanism. It will provide a certain level of theoretical and scientific basis for future research
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