The dual effect of curcumin on etoposide action in leukemic and healthy bone marrow cells of rats with acute myeloid leukemia.

The effect of curcumin, a promising anticancer agent, on the action of certain cytostatic drugs, including etoposide, is not well understood. This paper examines the effect of curcumin on etoposide action in leukemic and normal bone marrow cells in vivo conditions. The experimental model used was Brown Norway rats with a transplantable acute promyelocytic leukemia. Leukemia was induced by intravenous injection of BNML (Brown Norway Myeloid Leukemia) cells. Curcumin was administered by oral gavage (200 mg/kg) for 23 consecutive days and etoposide was used intraperitoneally (50 mg/kg) for the last three days of the experiment. Control leukemic and healthy rats received the solvent for the tested compounds only. Curcumin significantly reduced the number of leukemic promyelocytes in the bone marrow of BNML rats in comparison to the leukemic control. Treatment with curcumin plus etoposide led to a decrease in the number of promyelocytes to the normal values occurring in healthy individuals. In contrast, the percentage of the normal precursors of granulocytes (p <0.001) and erythrocytes (p <0.001) increased significantly in comparison to the group treated with only etoposide. The results of the study indicate that curcumin may protect healthy myeloid cells against the cytotoxic effect of etoposide and potentiate the antileukemic action of this anticancer drug.