Anti-proliferation effects of oxaliplatin in combination with the probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus in colorectal cancer cells

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy is prevalent as a key therapeutic method in the field of cancer treatment. However, the efficacy of colorectal cancer therapy is diminished because of the emergence of drug resistance. Combination therapies that have synergistic advantages present a more promising outlook. This study aimed to evaluate a new strategy for enhancing the anticancer effectiveness of oxaliplatin (OXA) against colorectal cancer cells by concurrently administering probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA) extraction. METHODS: We investigated the effects of OXA, LA extraction, and their combined treatment (OXA-LA) on the viability of the Caco-2 colorectal cancer cell line. The assessment of the metastatic potential of cancer cells involved the application of wound healing assays and transwell migration experiments. Flow cytometry was employed to compare the apoptotic state of cells in the research group. In addition, metastatic and apoptotic gene expression were evaluated using real-time PCR. RESULTS: The viability of colorectal cancer cells was significantly diminished by administration of OXA, LA, and the OXA-LA combination. There was a significant increase in apoptosis observed throughout treatment groups. The co-administration of OXA and LA exhibited enhanced apoptotic and anticancer potency compared to the separate administration of each compound alone. Following the therapy administration, a discernible modification in the expression of genes linked to apoptosis and metastasis was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicated that simultaneous administration of the OXA-LA combination can enhance therapeutic efficacy while concurrently reducing adverse side effects by decreasing the dosage of OXA.