The Inhibiting Effect of Dinitrosyl Iron Complexes with Thiol-containing Ligands on the Growth of Endometrioid Tumours in Rats with Experimental Endometriosis.

The possibility that binuclear dinitrosyl iron complexes with glutathione and cysteine (DNIC-GSН and B-DNIC-Cys) have a strong cytotoxic effect on the growth of endometrioid tumours (EMT) in rats with surgically induced experimental endometriosis established in our previous studies has been supported with experimental data. The increase in the DNIC-GSН or B-DNIC-Cys dose from 10 (in our previous studies) to 20 μmol/kg (after i/p administration to experimental rats) fully suppressed the growth of uterine tissues implanted onto the inner surface of the abdominal wall. At 2 μmol/kg DNIC-GSН, the median value of EMT volume increased from 0 to 15 mm3, while the mean size of EMT-from 55 to 77 mm3 (data from EMT measurements in 10 experimental rats). After treatment of animals with B-DNIC with N-acetyl-L-cysteine (10 μmol/kg) known for its ability to penetrate easily through the cell membrane, the inhibiting effect on EMT growth diminished as could be evidenced from the transformation of ~30% of the implants into large-size EMT. Possible reasons for this phenomenon are discussed.