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The effect of thymoquinone and propranolol combination on epidermoid laryngeal carcinoma cell

  • Laryngology
  • Published:
European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

We aimed to evaluate the effects of thymoquinone and propranolol on Hep-2 cells representing laryngeal Ca cell type in comparison with cisplatin. We also evaluated their combined effects.

Methods

Apoptotic effects were directly analyzed via mitochondrial membrane potential and caspase-3 assays. In addition, effects on apoptosis and cell cycle via Bcl-2, Bax, P53, and Cyclin D1 mRNA expressions and effects on angiogenesis via VEGFA mRNA expression were evaluated by RT-qPCR.

Results

According to our results, it was determined that the anticancer effects of thymoquinone on Hep-2 cells were higher than propranolol. Our JC-1 and caspase-3 results showed an effect close to cisplatin, especially for 50 µM thymoquinone. Significant differences were also obtained in Bcl-2, Bax, P53, and cyclin D1 results for similar concentrations compared to the control. No effect of thymoquinone was seen for VEGFA. Propranolol alone had no significant effect on JC-1 and Caspase-3. Propranolol had an effect on Bcl-2, Bax mRNA expressions compared to the control, only at 250 µM concentration. Propranolol and its combinations increased VEGFA mRNA expression-like cisplatin.

Conclusion

Thymoquinone induced apoptosis and blocked the cell cycle in Hep-2 cells. The effects of propranolol, which was reported to have an antiangiogenesis effect in some studies, on apoptosis and cell cycle were limited except at high concentrations. For this cell line, why propranolol causes an increase in VEGFA expression should be evaluated extensively. Thymoquinone shows promise for cancer therapy, but studies need to be designed in vivo to evaluate the effects more reliably.

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Availability of data and materials

The data in this article were obtained during the study process. The kits and devices used in the study are stated in the article.The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the Scientific Research Projects Unit of Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University for the financial resources they have provided.

Funding

This study was supported by Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University Scientific Research Projects Unit. Project ID: 2019-04-03-MAP01.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology, Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University School of Medicine, Antalya, Turkey

    Caner Şahin

  2. Department of Pharmacology, Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University School of Medicine, Antalya, Turkey

    Erkan Maytalman & Dilara Nemutlu Samur

  3. Microbiology Laboratory, Urla State Hospital, Ministry of Health, Izmir, Turkey

    Bora Doğan

Authors
  1. Caner Şahin
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  2. Erkan Maytalman
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  3. Dilara Nemutlu Samur
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Contributions

The project idea was put forward by CŞ and EM. CŞ was found in all laboratory stages except cell culture. EM and DNS did cell culture stages and supported all other laboratory studies. BD supported the performance of caspase-3 and JC-1 assays. The writing phase of the study was done by ÇŞ, EM and DNS.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Erkan Maytalman.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethics committee approval

This study does not have a design on biomaterials directly sourced from humans or animals. It has an in-vitro design, which excludes the conditions specified in the Helsinki Declaration. The study was performed with a commercially available cell line. Therefore, ethical committee approval is not required in our country.

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Şahin, C., Maytalman, E., Nemutlu Samur, D. et al. The effect of thymoquinone and propranolol combination on epidermoid laryngeal carcinoma cell. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 280, 2849–2858 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-023-07825-0

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