In Vitro Radiosensitizing Effects of Temozolomide on U87MG Cell Lines of Human Glioblastoma Multiforme

Background: Glioma is the most common primary brain tumor with poor prognosis. Temozolomide (TMZ) has been used with irradiation (IR) to treat gliomas. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the cytotoxic and radiosensitizing effect of TMZ when combined with high-dose and high-dose rate of gamma irradiation in vitro. Methods: Two ‘U87MG’ cell lines and skin fibroblast were cultured and assigned to five groups for 24, 48, and 72 hours. The groups were namely, TMZ group (2000 μM/L), IR group (5 Gy), TMZ plus IR group, control group, and control solvent group. MTT assay was applied to evaluate cell viability. Data were analyzed with SPSS 21.0 software using one-way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test. P<0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The slope of growth curve U87MG cells in semilogarithmic scale was equal to 27.36±0.89 hours. The viability of cells was determined for different TMZ and IR treatment groups. In terms of cell viability, there were no significant differences between the control and control solvent groups (P=0.35) and between treated group by IR (5 Gy) alone and TMZ (2000 μM/ml) alone (P=0.15). Data obtained for the cell viability of combined TMZ plus IR in both cell lines compared to TMZ or IR treated group alone showed a significant difference (P=0.002). Conclusion: The evaluation of cells viability showed that TMZ in combination with IR on glioma cells led to a significant radiosensitivity compared to IR alone.