Endothelial cell growth regulation by PGE1 analog misoprostol and indomethacin.

The role of prostaglandins on growth regulation of different cell types was investigated. We studied the effect of exogenous misoprostol in the presence or absence of indomethacin on the cell growth kinetics. Our results clearly show that misoprostol strongly inhibited the growth of several cancer cells but only slightly affected that of endothelial cells. Moreover, indomethacin alone (which decreases PG synthesis) had little effect on DNA synthesis in endothelial cells or C6 cells but inhibited colonic cancer cells. Conversely, misoprostol stimulated DNA synthesis in endothelial or C6 cells preincubated with indomethacin. This phenomenon was not observed with colonic cancer cells. The role of NSAIDs in the field of cytoprotection is discussed.