Cytotoxic activity of resveratrol in different cell lines evaluated by MTT and NRU assays

Abstract

Oxidative stress is the state of imbalance between the level of antioxidant defence system and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and is involded in the progression of several diseases such as inflammation, cancer, neurodegenerative disorders and cardiovascular diseases. It is suggested that plant polyphenols may act as antioxidants and therefore it has anti-cancer activities. Resveratrol (RV), is a naturally occuring polyphenolic compound which is found in many plant species including grapes, nuts, blueberries and raspberries. Data indicated that it has anti-oxidant, anti-inflamatory and anti-cancer activities. But there are also some studies reported that RV has not protective effects aganist cancer. In this study, the cytotoxicity of RV in human breast adenocarcinoma (MDA-MB 231), human cervical cancer (HeLa) and Chinese hamster lung fibroblast (V79) cells were evaluated by Neutral Red uptake assay (NRU) and MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assays after incubation at 24 h. We obtained more or the less same results by two cytotoxicity assays. In the concentrations between 2-400 μM, RV seemed not to induce a pronounced cytotoxicity in all cell types. Even at highest concentrations, it showed almost no cytotoxic effects. So the IC50 values were not calculated at the studied concentrations.