Nicotinamide-Induced Apoptosis Can Be Enhanced by Melatonin in Mouse Myeloma Cells

The mechanism of apoptosis induced by nicotinamide was investigated by treating mouse myeloma cells (Sp2/0) with various concentrations of nicotinamide. The typical hallmarks of apoptosis, including chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation, were detected when cells were treated with nicotinamide at concentrations of 30, 40, 50, and 60 mmol/L. The apoptosis percentage increased with increasing nicotinamide concentration. Interestingly, the strong antioxidant melatonin did not restrain the apoptosis induced by nicotinamide in mouse myeloma cells but greatly increased the induction of nicotinamide on apoptosis. When cells were preincubated with 0.1, 1, and 10 mmol/L melatonin before nicotinamide induction, the percentage of apoptosis induced by 50 mmol/L nicotinamide markedly increased with increasing melatonin concentration. These results suggest that apoptosis induced by nicotinamide has no relationship with oxidative stress and melatonin could enhance nicotinamide-induced apoptosis in mouse myeloma cells by stimulating cell division in a certain manner. Nicotinamide may provide a new method to treat some kinds of tumors with no damage to normal tissues.