Journal of Medical Sciences and Health (Jun 2019)
Effects of Juglone on Antioxidant Status in Pancreatic Cancer Cell Lines
Abstract
Background: Naphthoquinones have protective effects through different mechanism against to human malignancies including pancreatic cancer. One of these mechanisms is to avoid reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Changes in enzymatic (superoxide dismutases, catalase [CAT], ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase) antioxidant systems, such as formation of an oxidative biomarker (H2O2, malondialdehyde, ischemic modified albümin, etc.) have a critical role in ROS mechanism. According to this knowledge, we evaluated the anticancer and antioxidant activity of the juglone. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic activity of juglone and to investigate its effect on antioxidant activity in BxPC-3 and PANC-1 pancreatic cancer cell lines. Materials and Methods: The cytotoxic activities of juglone on cell viability were investigated on pancreatic cancer cells using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide cell viability test. One of the antioxidant enzymes, CAT activities and antioxidant status marker reduced glutathione (GSH) levels were measured by spectrophotometric analysis. We compared the groups as juglone treatment and control groups (no treatment) at different hours (24th, 48th and 72th h). Results:Juglone reduced the cell viability of human pancreatic cancer cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Juglone supplementation showed an antiproliferative effect toward pancreatic cancer cell lines at IC50 values. The IC50 of juglone on BxPC-3 and PANC-1 pancreatic cell line was 21.05 μM and 21.25 μM, respectively. Furthermore, juglone had a significantly higher degree of enzymatic activity to compensate the oxidative stress. CAT activity was found a significant increase compared to the control group at 24, 48, and 72 h in PANC-1 cells; it was found a significant increase at 72 h in BxPC-3 cell line. Reduced glutathione level is decreased at 24 and 48 h while at 72 h GSH level is increased in BxPC-3 cell line after juglone treatment compared to the control group. In PANC-1 cell line, GSH level is increased at 24 and 48 h, but it was decreased at 72 h compared to the control group. Conclusions: Our results indicate that juglone can be a potent anticancer molecule and may prove essential in pancreatic cancer therapy. Juglone may play a central role in antioxidant system defense in pancreatic cells.
