The cytotoxic effect of fleroxacin and ciprofloxacin on transitional cell carcinoma in vitro.

BACKGROUND

There have been few reports concerning the cytotoxic effects of fluoroquinolone antibiotics on transitional cell carcinoma. This investigation was designed to study the cytotoxic effects of fleroxacin and ciprofloxacin on transitional cell carcinoma quantitatively in vitro.

METHODS

Two transitional cell carcinoma cell lines, MBT-2 and T24, were used in this study. The effects of fleroxacin and ciprofloxacin on cell proliferation were determined by counting the number of living cells and by colorimetric MTT assay.

RESULTS

Two fluoroquinolones, fleroxacin and ciprofloxacin, significantly inhibited cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner at a concentration of 50-800 microg/mL in both cell lines. Compared with the cytotoxic effects of the two antibiotics, the inhibitory activity of ciprofloxacin on cell proliferation significantly exceeded that of fleroxacin in the MBT-2 cell line. However, the two fluoroquinolones did not have significantly different effects on the T24 cell line.

CONCLUSIONS

Fleroxacin and ciprofloxacin significantly affect cell proliferation in transitional cell carcinoma cell lines. The results encourage further study of the possibility of clinical application of some fluoroquinolones to prevent recurrence of urinary bladder tumors because the urinary excretions after oral administration of these drugs are quite high.