Research article

N-acetylcysteine amide decreases oxidative stress but not cell death induced by doxorubicin in H9c2 cardiomyocytes

Rong Shi¹ , Chuan-Chin Huang² , Robert S Aronstam² , Nuran Ercal¹ , Adam Martin² and Yue-Wern Huang²

¹  Department of Chemistry, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 400 W. 11^st Street, 142 Schrenk Hall, Rolla, MO 65409, USA

²  Department of Biological Sciences and M S&T cDNA Resource Center, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 400 W. 11^st Street, 105 Schrenk Hall, Rolla, MO 65409, USA

author email corresponding author email

BMC Pharmacology 2009, 9:7doi:10.1186/1471-2210-9-7

Published:	15 April 2009

Abstract

Background

While doxorubicin (DOX) is widely used in cancer chemotherapy, long-term severe cardiotoxicity limits its use. This is the first report of the chemoprotective efficacy of a relatively new thiol antioxidant, N-acetylcysteine amide (NACA), on DOX-induced cell death in cardiomyocytes. We hypothesized that NACA would protect H9c2 cardiomyocytes from DOX-induced toxicity by reducing oxidative stress. Accordingly, we determined the ability of NACA to mitigate the cytotoxicity of DOX in H9c2 cells and correlated these effects with the production of indicators of oxidative stress.

Results

DOX at 5 μM induced cardiotoxicity while 1) increasing the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), 2) decreasing levels and activities of antioxidants and antioxidant enzymes (catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase) and 3) increasing lipid peroxidation. NACA at 750 μM substantially reduced the levels of ROS and lipid peroxidation, as well as increased both GSH level and GSH/GSSG ratio. However, treating H9c2 cells with NACA did little to protect H9c2 cells from DOX-induced cell death.

Conclusion

Although NACA effectively reduced oxidative stress in DOX-treated H9c2 cells, it had minimal effects on DOX-induced cell death. NACA prevented oxidative stress by elevation of GSH and CYS, reduction of ROS and lipid peroxidation, and restoration of antioxidant enzyme activities. Further studies to identify oxidative stress-independent pathways that lead to DOX-induced cell death in H9c2 are warranted.