Antiproliferative activity of levobupivacaine and aminoimidazole carboxamide ribonucleotide on human cancer cells of variable bioenergetic profile.

We assessed the impact of ten mitoactive drugs on the viability and the proliferation of human cancer cells of variable origin and bioenergetics. A validated chemotherapeutic drug, doxorubicin, was used as a gold-standard for comparison. We also looked at the effect of these drugs on Rho(0) cells and on embryonic fibroblasts, both of which rely mainly on glycolysis to generate the vital ATP. The statistical analysis of the area under the curves revealed a cell-type specific response to mitodopant and mitotoxic compounds, in correlation with the contribution of glycolysis to cellular ATP synthesis. These findings indicate that the bioenergetic state of the cell determines in part the impact of mitodopants and mitotoxics on cancer cells viability.