Evening primrose oil sensitized cisplatin potential in A549 lung cancer cells via activation of p53 pathway

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Indeed, only small improvements in survival can be expected with the use of conventional therapies. This observation highlights the need for new treatment options. Evening primrose oil (EPO) contains a wide range of phytoconstituents with potent tumor suppressor activities. Here, we evaluated the potential for EPO to have an additive cytotoxic effect with cisplatin in A549 lung cancer cells. Interestingly, the MTT assay revealed a significant cytotoxic effect of EPO against A549 cells. EPO-induced apoptosis was evidenced by an increase in PI-positive cells analyzed by FACS. Moreover, a significant increase in pro-apoptotic proteins (BAX, cytochrome c, c-caspase 3, and c-PARP) was observed. In addition, a significant upregulation of p53 and PUMA was reported upon treatment with EPO against cells. Cisplatin was also observed to induce apoptosis by upregulating pro-apoptotic proteins. Interestingly, the co-treatment of both cisplatin and EPO showed the highest apoptotic percentage of A549 cells with increased apoptotic bodies compared to control cells and single treatment with cisplatin. This suggests that EPO exhibited anticancer properties in A549 cells and enhanced the effectiveness of cisplatin. This proposes EPO supplementation as a potential adjuvant and sensitizer in lung cancer therapy.