Investigating the Effects of Peiminine and Hyperthermia Therapy on the Induction of Apoptosis in MCF-7 Cell Line

Background and

Today, cancer is considered as the second cause of death in the world. Often, the treatment of all types of cancer is very complicated. The discovery of new anti-cancer drugs with high effectiveness, low toxicity, the ability to select normal cells from cancerous cells, and low cost is one of the concerns of the world's pharmaceutical communities. Nowadays, the use of natural compounds based on their synergistic effects has opened a new therapeutic horizon in the management of different types of cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate the synergistic effects of peiminine and hyperthermia therapy on the induction of apoptosis in MCF-7 cell line.

In the present experimental-laboratory study, after culturing MCF-7 cells in 96-well plates, they were treated with peiminine (5.12 µg/ml for 24 h) and hyperthermia (410C for 1 h) independently and simultaneously. Then the cell viability rate, apoptosis percentage, ROS production rate, LDH release rate, and caspase 8 and 9 activity level were measured.

The results of the present study showed that peiminine and hyperthermia therapy caused a significant decrease in cell viability as well as a significant increase in the percentage of apoptosis, ROS production, and LDH release compared with the control group. By measuring the activity of caspase 8 and 9, it was determined that peiminine induced apoptosis through both mitochondrial and extracellular pathways. It was also found that peiminine and hyperthermia therapy, in combination, had synergistic antiproliferative effects.

According to the results of the present study, it seems that peiminine, as a natural product, when used in combination with hyperthermia therapy has synergistic antiproliferative and apoptosis-inducing effects. This suggests that it can be used as a complementary method in cancer treatment.