Tropisetron-Induced Apoptosis: A Study on SKOV3 Cell Viability and Gene Expression

Background: Ovarian tumors account for 1% of all childhood neoplasms and are the most common genital neoplasm in children. Considering the role of serotonin in the promotion of tumor growth and metastasis in some cancers, tropisetron as a 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT3) receptor antagonist can exert anti-neoplastic effects. The current study seeks to determine the association between the use of tropisetron and ovarian cancercell lines (SKOV3) by evaluating apoptotic regulators. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, after the addition of tropisetron to SKOV3 cancer cells at the concentrations of 1, 10, and 100 mu M, the MTT assay was employed to assess the cell viability percentage within 24, 48, and 72 hours. The level of expression of Bcl2 and Bax genes after 24 hours were determined by Real Time-PCR, and Caspase 3 enzyme activity was measured by the ELISA method. Differences between groups were statistically analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). A p-value less than 0.05 is considered to be statistically significant. Results: Based on the MTT test, tropisetron significantly decreased the viability of SKOV3 cancer cells. It decreased the levels of Bcl2 expression according to real-time PCR results (P =0.0015) but increased the expression levels of Bax (P = 0.011) in SKOV3 cells. Both caspase-3 enzyme activity and the ratio of Bax to Bcl2 expression (Bax/Bcl2) were increased (P = 0.008 and P = 0.011, respectively). Conclusion: Tropisetron could inhibit tumor cell growth via apoptosis induction and exert proapoptotic effects in an ovarian cancer <not sign>cell line. Therefore, it seems that it can be considered as a possible chemotherapy drug for ovarian cancer. However, more studies should be conducted in this regard.