Mebendazole, an antiparasitic drug, inhibits drug transporters expression in preclinical model of gastric peritoneal carcinomatosis

The present study aimed to investigate whether MBZ down-regulates drug transporter expression (ABCB1, ABCC1, SLC47A1). mRNA expression level of ABCB1, ABCC1 and SLC47A1 was evaluated by qPCR and protein expression levels MDR-1 was performed by western blotting in malignant ascites cells (AGP-01) treated with MBZ for 24 h. The mRNA expression level of ABCB1 and ABCC1 significantly decreased at a 1.0 μM of MBZ compared to negative control, while SLC47A1 extremely decreased at all tested concentrations of MBZ. Protein expression levels MDR-1 significantly decreased at a 1.0 μM of MBZ compared to negative control. Therefore, our results showed MBZ may play an important role in inhibiting MDR gene expression in malignant ascites cells.