Simvastatin and Geraniol show a synergistic effect on A549 cells

POLO MÓNICA; CRESPO ROSANA; BRAVO, MARGARITA G. DE

Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires.

Congreso; XLIII Reunión Anual de SAIB.; 2007

Simvastatin is a competitive inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase activity whereas geraniol is a natural monoterpene with multiple effects on mevalonate metabolism. Both of them inhibit growth and proliferation of many cell lines. We have previously reported that a combination of simvastatin and geraniol inhibited the growth rate of an hepatoblastoma cell line. Here we investigated the alterations produced by simvastatin (S) and geraniol (G) on lipid metabolism in a human lung adenocarcinoma cell line (A549). Cells were treated with 20mM S, 100 mM G or 20mM S + 100 mM G  (SG) for 24 h. Three hours prior to starvation, 14C-acetate was added. Total lipids were extracted and 14C incorporation in non saponifiable lipids, fatty acids, neutral lipids and phospholipids were determined. The addition of either 20 mM S or 100mM G did not significantly inhibit A549 cell proliferation, while their combination inhibited by 20% the growth rate of this cell line. Simvastatin incremented 14C incorporation in phospholipids specially phosphatidylcholine whereas G and SG groups showed a diminished 14C incorporation in non saponifiable and neutral lipids as well as in phospholipids. These results demostrated that also a non hepatic cell line model shows a synergistic effect of the combination of a statin and a nonnutritive dietary component which would provide a new appoach to chemotheraphy treatment.