Many studies have shown that artesunate (ART) has an anti-tumor effect, but its effect on gastric cancer is not clear. The purpose of the study was to observe the Adriamycin (ADM)-resistance changes of SGC 7901/mdr1 caused by ART, compare it with SGC7901, and explore the cell apoptosis and changes of Bcl-2's expression in the reversal process. MTT was used to test ART's drug-resistance reversal effect. Fluorescence microscope and flow cytometry were applied to test the apoptosis of SGC7901/mdr1 cells. Western blotting was used to test the expressions of Bcl-2 and caspase-3. It was found that non-cytotoxic ART combined with ADM in different concentrations can produce intensified damage to SGC7901/mdr1. The resistance reversal ratio of ART to drug resistant cells was about 2.31 times, and the relative reversal rate was about 83%. After 48h combination of non-cytotoxic ART and non-cytotoxic ADM, cell apoptosis was observed in morphology. The results of FC showed that the apoptosis ratio of combined group reached 15%. The results of Western blot suggested that Bcl-2's expressions in the combined group were significantly enhanced in comparison to the single drug group, and activation fragments of caspase-3 were observed. ART can reverse doxorubicin resistance in drug-resistant cells, and the mechanism of reversal is related to the increase of apoptosis.
Wang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.