The effects of combined treatment with sevoflurane and cisplatin on growth and invasion of human adenocarcinoma cell line A549

Sevoflurane, an inhalational anesthetic, and cisplatin (DDP)-based chemotherapy have been widely used during lung cancer surgery. However, the effect of sevoflurane on the sensitivity of lung cancer cells to DDP chemotherapy remains unclear. In this study, the effects of combined treatment with sevoflurane and cisplatin on the growth and invasion of human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell line have been investigated. The underlying mechanism has also been explored. In our experiment, A549 cells were treated with 2.5% sevoflurane, 10 μmol/L DDP, or the co-treatment of sevoflurane and DDP for 4 h, respectively. Cell proliferation was evaluated by the MTT assay and colony formation assay. Apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry. Cell invasion was detected by Transwell assay. The expressions of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP), Survivin, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 were determined by western blotting. Our results showed that sevoflurane combined with DDP resulted in a more pronounced inhibition of tumor cells growth and invasion as compared with either drug alone. Besides, XIAP, Survivin, MMP-2, and MMP-9 were downregulated more significantly by the co-treatment of the two drugs as compared to sevoflurane treatment or DDP treatment alone. Taken together, the growth-inhibitory and invasion-inhibitory synergy between sevoflurane and DDP in human adenocarcinoma A549 cell line was found in this study. Furthermore, we showed that the growth-inhibitory synergy between sevoflurane and DDP might be associated with the downregulation of XIAP and Survivin, and the invasion-inhibitory synergy between sevoflurane and DDP might be involved in the downregulation of MMP-2 and MMP-9.