Apoptotic Effects of Sanguinarine on the Organ of Corti 1 Cells: Comparison with Cisplatin.

OBJECTIVE Sanguinarine is an alkaloid obtained from the root of Sanguinaria canadensis and other plants from the Papaveraceae family and is well known to possess a broad range of biological functions, such as antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and antineoplastic activities. We aimed to specify the in vitro effect of sanguinarine on the House Ear Institute-Organ of Corti 1 (HEI-OC1) cells and to compare this effect with the ototoxic effect of cisplatin (CDDP). MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed cell proliferation assay for determining the in vitro effect of sanguinarine alone and compared it with the effect of cisplatin. Flow cytometry annexin-V apoptosis detection was performed. RESULTS We found that sanguinarine and CDDP inhibited the cell growth in a dose-dependant manner in HEI-OC1 cells after 24 h of incubation. In sanguinarine-treated group, apoptosis was 6.6%, necrosis was 26.7%, and the cell viability was 66.7%. Further, in CDDP-treated group, apoptosis was 5.6%, necrosis was 45.4%, and the cell viability was 48.7%. According to the annexin-V apoptosis detection results, we found that sanguinarine caused 3.9% apoptosis and 1.3% necrosis, while CDDP caused 2.9% apoptosis and 20% necrosis on HEI-OC1 cells. CONCLUSION Our findings suggested that lower doses of sanguinarine are promising antineoplastic agents, which did not indicate any toxic effect on HEI-OC1 cells. Application of these data to clinical practice requires further support by in vivo studies.