Inhibitory and protective effect of obovatol against uterine fibroid (leiomyoma) cells.

Uterine fibroids (UF) or leiomyomas can be presented in post-menopausal women. The present study was aimed to examine the inhibitory and protective (anti-proliferative and apoptotic) effect of the obovatol (OB) in human leiomyoma cells (HuLM). The cell proliferative activity was determined by MTT assay and inflammatory markers were measured. Followed by evaluating DNA fragmentation and apoptotic markers using the ELISA kit method. Also, the apoptosis regulatory proteins expressions were determined using the immunoblot technique. Treatment with increasing concentration of OB (25-200 μM) significantly lowered the cell proliferation rate as well as considerably reduced the values of various pro-inflammatory cytokines like IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6. Whereas, the levels of DNA fragmentation and apoptotic marker like caspase-3 and 9 were considerably elevated after co-culturing HuLM cells with OB. In addition, apoptosis regulatory proteins like Bcl2 and Bax were substantially down and up-regulated respectively, by OB in a dose-dependent fashion. The above data clearly showcase that OB possesses potent anti-proliferative (inhibitory) as well as apoptotic activity and may be recommended as a chemotherapeutic agent against UF and related conditions. However, further studies are required before recommended for treating UF subjects.