Open AccessAntioxidant vitamins promote anticancer effects on low‐concentration methotrexate‐treated glioblastoma cells via enhancing the caspase‐3 death pathway
Author(s) -
Yiang GiouTeng,
Chen TsuYi,
Chen Cian,
Hung YuTing,
Hsueh KuanChun,
Wu TsaiKun,
Pan YingRu,
Chien YiChung,
Chen ChaoHsuan,
Yu Yung‑Lung,
Wei ChyouWei
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
food science and nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.614
H-Index - 27
ISSN - 2048-7177
DOI - 10.1002/fsn3.2298
Subject(s) - methotrexate , pharmacology , apoptosis , vitamin e , medicine , antioxidant , glioblastoma , vitamin c , rheumatoid arthritis , cancer research , cancer , chemistry , biochemistry
Vitamin C and vitamin E are well‐known antioxidant vitamins, both of which are also applied as adjunct treatments for cancer therapy. Methotrexate (MTX) is a clinical drug that is used widely for rheumatoid arthritis and cancer treatment. Human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive malignant brain tumor; the mean survival time for GBM patients is <2 years with traditional therapies. Developing and investigating novel treatments are important for clinical GBM therapy. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether combined treatment with vitamin C/E and MTX can display anticancer activities on GBM. Our studies showed that MTX displays anticancer effects on GBM in a dose‐dependent manner, while vitamins C and E are not cytotoxic to glioblastoma. Importantly, this study showed that vitamins C and E can promote anticancer effects on low‐concentration methotrexate‐treated glioblastoma. Additionally, this study suggested that MTX alone or combined with vitamins C/E inhibits GBM cell growth via the caspase‐3 death pathway.