Abstract:

Yu Kai, Wang Yiyu, Jin Xianhua, Li Xue, Zhu Wenjing, Xia Jianxin Department of Dermatology, Liaocheng People′s Hospital, Liaocheng 252000, Shandong, China （Yu K）; Department of Dermatology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130041, China （Wang YY, Jin XH, Li X, Zhu WJ, Xia JX） Corresponding author: Xia Jianxin, Email: 911469806@qq.com 【Abstract】 Objective To evaluate effects of acitretin and interferon-α （INF-α） alone or in combination on the proliferative activity of and interleukin-15 in human cutaneous T-cell lymphoma Hut78 cells. Methods Cultured Hut78 cells were divided into several groups, including blank control group, negative control group, dimethyl sulphoxide （DMSO） group and experimental groups. Cells in experimental groups were additionally classified into several subgroups to be treated with acitretin （0.1 - 10 μmol/L, acitretin groups） or INF-α （5 000 - 20 000 IU/ml, INF-α groups） alone, or the combination of 1.0 μmol/L acitretin and IFN-α at concentrations of 5 000 - 20 000 IU/ml （combination groups）, for 24, 48 and 72 hours. Subsequently, cell counting kit 8 （CCK8） assay was performed to assess the proliferative activity of Hut78 cells, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） to measure the of IL-15 in these cells. Results The proliferative activity of and IL-15 in Hut78 cells were both obviously suppressed in the acitretin groups and combination groups compared with the DMSO group, as well as in the INF-α groups compared with the negative control group, and the inhibitory effects gradually increased with the increase in acitretin or INF-α concentrations and treatment durations. As repeated measures analysis of variance revealed, there was a significant difference in both proliferation inhibition rates and IL-15 among different treatment durations and among different concentrations of acitretin or INF-α （all P < 0.05）, and there was an interaction effect between treatment durations and drug concentrations （all P < 0.05）. A significant difference was observed in both proliferation inhibition rates and IL-15 at 24, 48 and 72 hours when the 1.0-μmol/L acitretin + 10 000/20 000-IU/ml IFN-α group was compared with the 1.0-μmol/L acitretin group and 10 000/20 000 IU/ml IFN-α group （all P < 0.05）. There was also a significant difference in IL-15 at 24, 48 and 72 hours between the 1.0-μmol/L acitretin + 50 000-IU/ml IFN-α group and 5 000-IU/ml IFN-α group （all P < 0.05）. Conclusions Acitretin and IFN-α both can inhibit the proliferation of and IL-15 in Hut78 cells, the inhibitory effects are enhanced with the increase in drug concentrations and treatment durations, and the combination of acitretin and IFN-α appears to have stronger inhibitory effects than acitretin or IFN-α alone.