Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

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CURCUMIN ENHANCES CISPLATIN-INDUCED CYTOTOXICITY IN PANC-1 AND MIA PACA-2 PANCREATIC CANCER CELLS

IASMINA-ALEXANDRA PREDESCU 1,2,3#, CASIANA BORU 4#, ANDREEA SMEU 1,2,3*, ELENA- DORINA CORICOVAC 2,3, BOGDAN HOINOIU 5,6, ALINA TĂNASE 7 , CRISTINA ADRIANA DEHELEAN 2,3

1 Doctoral School, “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 2nd Eftimie Murgu Square, 300041 Timisoara, Romania
2 Faculty of Pharmacy, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timișoara, 2nd Eftimie Murgu Square, 300041 Timișoara, Romania
3 Research Centre for Pharmaco-Toxicological Evaluations, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timișoara, 2nd Eftimie Murgu Square, 300041 Timișoara, Romania
4 Faculty of Medicine, “Vasile Goldiș” Western University of Arad, 94 Revoluției Blvd., 310130, Arad, Romania
5 Department of Oral Rehabilitation and Dental Emergencies, Faculty of Dentistry, “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, 2nd Eftimie Murgu Square, 300041 Timisoara, Romania
6 Interdisciplinary Research Center for Dental Medical Research, Lasers and Innovative Technologies, 300070 Timisoara, Romania
7 Department of Management, Legislation and Communication in Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Medicine, “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 2nd Eftimie Murgu Square, 300041 Timisoara, Romania

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Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal type of cancer with limited therapeutic options and frequent drug resistance. Curcumin (CRM), a pleiotropic polyphenol, and cisplatin (CIS), a platinum-based chemotherapeutic drug, have demonstrated anticancer activity in PDAC. The objective of this study was to evaluate the combination of CRM and CIS in two PDAC cell lines (PANC-1 and MIA PaCa-2) to improve the pharmacological response to CIS. To achieve these objectives, several methods were used, including the MTT assay, morphological analysis, nuclear staining with Hoechst 33342, calculation of the apoptosis index, and assessment of mitochondrial membrane potential using JC-1. The results suggested that the combined treatment could be an alternative for improving the cytotoxic effects of CIS, with cell viability in PANC-1 cells reaching 14.30% at 25 μM. In contrast, in MIA PaCa-2 cells, a hormetic effect was observed, with viability reaching 57.21% at 25 μM. Nuclear changes, apoptosis index, and mitochondrial dysfunction increased in a dose-dependent manner, most frequently during combination therapy, whereas PANC-1 cells showed a greater response to the treatments used.