The Cytotoxic Effects of Testosterone on Gastric Cancer Cell Line (AGS) and Evaluation of Caspase-3, -8, and -9 Activity

Background and Objectives: Various studies have shown that sex steroids affect cancer cells at cellular and molecular level. In this study, the anti-proliferation effects of testosterone, was investigated on gastric cancer cell line (AGS) and activity level of caspase-3, -8 and -9, was evaluated.   Methods: In this laboratory experimental study, AGS cell line, were randomly divided into control group (no exposure to hormone) and groups received testosterone (at concentrations 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, and 10mg/ml). The cytotoxic effect of the extract was measured using MTT assay method. Caspase-3, -8 and -9 activity level was also evaluated using ELISA method. The data were statistically analyzed between groups using one way ANOVA and student’s t-test.   Results: Testosterone at the concentrations of 0.1 and 1mg/mL significantly reduced the viability of AGS cells compared to the control group (p<0.001). Exposure of gastric cancer cells to 1mg/mL of testosterone significantly increased the activity level of caspase-3 (p<0.001) and -9 (p<0.05) as compared to the control group, but caused no significant change in the activity level of caspase-8. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that testosterone can exert cytotoxic effects on AGS cell line, which this effect is at least partly mediated by caspase-3 and -9.