Melatonina como agente coadyuvante de quimioterapeuticos en estudios in vitro

Abstract

Despite the great advances in the field of oncology, the lack of specificity and / or effectiveness of some treatments leads the patient to endure undesirable side effects. This is because, to a lesser extent, healthy cells and by extension the rest of the body are affected by the toxicity of treatments. Melatonin exhibits potent antitumor activity mediated by mechanisms including antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic effects as well as a potent antioxidant action. Such ability is simultaneous with a protective ability on the healthy cell against toxic insults of a very diverse nature, thus protecting the healthy cell from damage that may lead to apoptosis. Therefore, melatonin could be useful in the treatment of tumors in association with chemotherapeutic agents. The objective of this Doctoral Thesis has been to study the mechanisms involved in the pro-apoptotic properties of melatonin in human tumor cells, such as the HeLa cell line of cervico uterine cancer as well as in the HT-29 cell line of colorectal adenocarcinoma, as well as the possible effects of indolamine on the action of chemotherapeutic agents (5 fluorouracil, cisplatin, cytarabine, doxorubicin, and etoposide). According to the above, it should be noted that melatonin in vitro is able to significantly increase the sensitivity of HeLa cells to treatment with cisplatin, as well as to increase the cytotoxic effect and apoptosis induced by the chemotherapeutic agent 5 fluorouracil in HT-29 cells.