Acute promyelocytic leukemia drug – arsenic trioxide in the presence of eugenol shows differential action on leukemia cells (HL-60) and cardiomyocytes (H9c2) – inference from NMR study

The increased concern of cardiovascular dysfunction by cancer therapeutics has led to more effective treatment strategies. Arsenic trioxide (As2O3) is a potential chemotherapeutic agent for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), but the effectiveness is affected by potential cardiotoxicity. Researchers have been trying to find out novel modalities to manage the adverse effects of As2O3. In our study, the antioxidant molecule eugenol showed protective action against the destructive impact of As2O3 on cardiomyocytes (H9c2) without compromising the anti-cancer property As2O3 on leukemia cells (HL-60). We have studied the interaction between arsenic and eugenol in physiological and acidic pH to understand the molecular mechanism of differential action of As2O3 in the presence of eugenol using NMR spectroscopy. The study observed that at physiological pH, arsenic and eugenol interact to form an inactive product, positively affecting H9c2 cardiomyocytes. Still, there is no such interaction in acidic pH evidenced by the useful anti-cancer property of As2O3. The result concludes that the antioxidant molecule eugenol is an efficient protective agent against the adverse effect of As2O3 on cardiomyocytes.