Omega 3 fatty acids increase the chemo-sensitivity of B-CLL-derived cell lines EHEB and MEC-2 and of B-PLL-derived cell line JVM-2 to anti-cancer drugs doxorubicin, vincristine and fludarabine

Table 1 Pre-treatment with FAs alone and following treatment with doxorubicin, vincristine or fludarabine induces G2/M arrest

Table 1. Cell cycle analysis: G1/G2 ratio
EHEB
	Control ± SEM	Vehicle ± SEM	p-value	AA25 μM ± SEM	p-value	EPA50 μM ± SEM	p-value	DHA75 μM ± SEM	p-value
(-) Drugs	4.1 ± 0.09	4.3 ± 0.04	NS	3.7 ± 0.8	NS	4.0 ± 0.50	NS	4.2 ± 0.20	NS
(+) 1.5 μM Dox	9.2 ± 0.21	9.0 ± 0.27	NS	9.5 ± 0.32	NS	8.9 ± 0.72	NS	5.8 ± 0.77	<0.05
(+) 40 μM Flud	13.3 ± 0.21	15.5 ± 0.04	NS	13.5 ± 0.19	NS	11.6 ± 2.08	NS	4.9 ± 0.22	<0.01
JVM-2
	Control ± SEM	Vehicle ± SEM	p-value	AA35 μM ± SEM	p-value	EPA50 μM ± SEM	p-value	DHA50 μM ± SEM	p-value
(-) Drugs	2.4 ± 0.14	2.4 ± 0.04	NS	2.2 ± 0.06	NS	1.8 ±0.12	NS	1.8 ± 0.09	<0.05
(+) 1.5 μM Dox	2.9 ± 0.16	3.1 ± 0.18	NS	2.6 ± 0.00	NS	2.6 ± 0.07	NS	2.18 ± 0.23	<0.05
(+) 100 nM Vin	1.2 ± 0.00	1.2 ± 0.02	NS	0.9 ± 0.00	<0.05	0.8 ± 0.01	<0.01	0.9 ± 0.06	<0.05
MEC-2
	Control ± SEM	Vehicle ± SEM	p-value	AA25 μM ± SEM	p-value	EPA50 μM ± SEM	p-value	DHA50 μM ± SEM	p-value
(-) Drugs	5.2 ± 0.29	4.8 ± 0.10	NS	4.9 ± 0.37	NS	3.6 ± 0.14	<0.05	2.8 ± 0.28	<0.001
(+) 1.5 μM Dox	3.0 ± 0.11	2.8 ± 0.23	NS	1.5 ± 0.08	<0.001	1.12 ± 0.10	<0.001	1.1 ± 0.15	<0.001
(+) 100 nM Vin	1.2 ± 0.07	1.4 ± 0.19	NS	0.7 ± 0.06	<0.05	0.6 ± 0.04	<0.01	0.9 ± 0.18	NS

Table 1 illustrates the G1/G2 ratios ± SEM of EHEB, JVM-2 and MEC-2 following treatment with 1.5 μM doxorubicin, 100 nM vincristine or 40 μM fludarabine in the presence or absence of vehicle, AA, EPA or DHA. Treatment with DHA alone indicated significantly lower ratios of G1/G2, indicative of G2/M arrest, as compared to vehicle in all three cell lines. Treatment with EPA indicated a significantly lower G1/G2 ratio as compared to vehicle in MEC-2. Pre-treatment with AA, EPA or DHA indicated significantly lower G1/G2 ratios as compared to vehicle following treatment with doxorubicin or vincristine. Only pre-treatment with DHA indicated a significantly lower G1/G2 ratio as compared to vehicle following treatment with fludarabine in EHEB. Statistical significance was determined by Multiple Comparison Test using Tukey’s correction. Abbreviations: Dox: doxorubicin, Vin: Vincristine, Flud: Fludarabine. α = 0.05, NS= not significant.

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