Cytotoxic effect of Pregabalin on U937 and Molt-4 Leukemic Cells in Vitro

Background: Pregabalin, a selective inhibitor of voltage dependent calcium channels has been used for treatment of epilepsy, fibromyalgia, generalized anxiety disorder and especially neuropathic pains. The anti-inflammatory properties of pregabalin in some pathologic conditions like orofacial pain and streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice have been reported. Effectiveness of pregabalin in treatment of pain in some cancer patients has been shown. The aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic effect of pregabalin on U937 and Molt-4 leukemic cells in vitro. Methods: Human leukemic monocyte (U937) and T cell (MOLT-4) were cultured in Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI)-1640 complete medium. Next, different concentrations of pregabalin (1, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 μg/ml) were add to cultured U937 and MOLT-4 cells and incubated for 24, 48 and 72 hours. The cytotoxic effect of pregabalin was assessed by MTT (3-[4, 5 dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) test. Results: Pregabalin significantly reduced U937 and Molt4 cells viability at 1000 μg/ml (6280.26 μM) concentration after 24 hours treatment (P<0.001, P=0.029, respectively). In addition, pregabalin also decreased U937 and Molt-4 cells viability at ≥500 μg/ml (≥3140.13 μM) concentrations after 48 hours incubation (P<0.001). Besides, pregabalin significantly reduced leukemic U937 cells viability at ≥ 100 μg/ml (628.02 μM) (P<0.005) after 72 hours incubation. Whereas, pregabalin significantly diminished Molt-4 cells viability at ≥1 μg/ml (6.28 μM, P<0.001) after 72 hours incubation.            Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that pregabalin was cytotoxic for U937 and Molt-4 cells in a time and dose dependent pattern. So Pregabalin might be a useful candidate as a therapeutic substance for treatment of leukemic patients.