The Investigation of the Effects of Calcitriol on Human Ovarian Carcinoma Cells

Abstract

Purpose: Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women, leading cause of death from gynecologic malignancies, and the second most commonly diagnosed gynecologic malignancy, however the underlying pathophysiology is not clearly understood. Calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D serves its activity by binding to the vitamin D receptor (VDR). Calcitriol regulates multiple signaling pathways such as proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, inflammation, invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis. It has been found to have a broad effect on several cancer types such as colon, breast and prostate cancer. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate the effects of calcitriol on human ovarian cancer cells. Material and Methods: The human MDAH-2774 ovarian carcinoma cells were exposed to different dose ranges of calcitriol for 24 and 48 hours. Cultured cells were evaluated in terms of MTT assay and quantitative- Real time-PCR. Results: As evidenced by the MTT assay, calcitriol treatment resulted in the reduction of cell viability in human MDAH-2774 cells. The gene expressions of VDR and p53 were increased with the calcitriol treatment compared to control. Additionally the gene expression of proapoptotic marker Bax increased and the anti-apoptotic marker Bcl-2 decreased with the presence of the calcitriol. Conclusion: In conclusion calcitriol treatment decreased cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells, therefore we can suggest that calcitriol, either by itself or in combination with chemotherapy drugs, may be effective in treating ovarian cancer.

Keywords

• apoptosis
• calcitriol
• mtt assay
• ovarian cancer
• qrt-pcr