Reversal effect of vitamin D on different multidrug-resistant cells.

We investigated the reversal effect of vitamin D on the multidrug-resistant leukemic Jurkat/ADR and K562/ADR cell lines and conducted a preliminary investigation of its reversal mechanism. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method was used to detect the reversal effect of vitamin D on multidrug-resistant cells. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the effect of vitamin D on intracellular expression of mRNA of the multidrug-resistant gene (MDRI) and the multidrug-resistance-related gene (MRP1). A protein quantitative analysis method was used to determine the effect of vitamin D on intracellular glutathione content. After treatment of Jurkat/ADR and K562/ADR cells with vitamin D, multidrug resistance was reversed in a dose-dependent manner, which may have reduced mRNA expression of the MDR1 and MRP1 genes, the P-glycoprotein content on the cell surface, and the intracellular glutathione level. Different concentrations of vitamin D showed varying reversal effects on different multidrug-resistant cells. The resistance mechanism may be related to the inhibition of the expression of MDR1 and MRP1 genes.