Selective potentiation of drug cytotoxicity by NSAID in human glioma cells: the role of COX-1 and MRP.

Here, we report that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) enhance the cytotoxic effects of doxorubicin and vincristine in T98G human malignant glioma cells. The cytotoxicity of BCNU, cisplatin, VM26, camptothecin, and cytarabine is unaffected by NSAID. No free radical formation is induced by doxorubicin or vincristine in the absence or presence of NSAID. Doxorubicin and vincristine cytotoxicity in the absence or presence of NSAID are unaffected by free radical scavengers. Functional inhibitors of phospholipase A2 (PLA2), such as dexamethasone and quinacrine, do not mimick the effects of NSAID. T98G cells, but not LN-18, LN-229, LN-308, or A172 glioma cells, express cyclooxygenase (COX-1) and NSAID do not modulate drug cytotoxicity in the other cell lines, except T98G. Thus, augmentation of doxorubicin and vincristine cytotoxicity by NSAID correlates with COX-1 expression. However, ectopic expression of COX-1 in LN-229 cells does not induce the phenotype of T98G cells, indicating that COX-1 inhibition does not mediate the effects of NSAID on drug cytotoxicity. In contrast, a multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype due to expression of the multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) is most prominent in T98G cells and is amenable to modulation by indomethacin, suggesting that inhibition of MRP is at least in partly responsible for the potentiation of doxorubicin and vincristine cytotoxicity by NSAID.