Curcumin combined with low-intensity ultrasound suppresses the growth of glioma cells via inhibition of the AKT pathway.

Malignant glioma is the most lethal form of brain cancer, and effective therapeutic modalities remain unavailable to date. We aim to investigate whether low-dose curcumin combined with low-intensity ultrasound (LIUS) effectively suppresses the growth of glioma cells and elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Glioma cells were treated with LIUS and curcumin. Subsequently, the effects of LIUS and curcumin on glioma cells were determined by CCK-8 assay, EdU assay, and flow cytometry analysis, respectively. Western blot analysis was performed to examine the levels of apoptosis-associated proteins and the proteins related to the AKT pathway. The proliferation assay showed that combined treatment with LIUS and curcumin synergistically decreased proliferation in glioma cells. And cell apoptosis was promoted after LIUS-curcumin combination treatment, characterized by the occurrence of more apoptotic cells and a significant increase in Bax level and attenuated Bcl-2 expression. Moreover, the role of LIUS-curcumin combination in downregulation of the AKT pathway was observed. The AKT pathway activator SC79 reversed apoptosis and anti-proliferation induced by combined treatment with LIUS and curcumin. Our findings show that LIUS in combination with low-dose curcumin synergistically suppresses the growth of glioma cells via inhibition of the AKT pathway. LIUS plus curcumin may be a promising therapeutic strategy for preventing glioma growth.