CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Curcumin inhibits Leydig cell tumor growth: in vitro and in vivo studies.Raices T, Varela ML, Abiuso AMB, Besio Moreno M, Mondillo C, Pereyra EN, Pignataro OP.Leydig cells comprise the steroidogenic population of the testes and Leydig cell tumors,the most common non-germ cell gonadal tumordeveloping in the testicular interstitium. Herein, we investigated the in vitro and in vivo effect of curcumin, component of the traditional medicinal spice known as turmeric, on tumoral Leydig cells. Given the vast evidence of its therapeutic effects in a variety of pathological conditions, we hypothesize that curcumin reduces Leydig cell tumor growth.MA-10 Leydig cell line was used for in vitro assays. Cell proliferation, measured by the sulforhodamine B assay, was concentration-dependently inhibited by curcumin from 40 and 60 µM concentration after incubations of 24 and 48h, respectively. Tripanblue assay showed a concomitant decrease in cell viability after a 24-h incubation period. In vivo experiments were performed in BALB/c x C57BL/6 mice. They were subcutaneously inoculated with MA-10 cells and, once the tumor reached a volume of 50mm3, intraperitoneal injectionsof 20mg/kg curcumin or vehicle (10% DMSO in corn oil) were administered every other day for 15 days. Results clearly indicate thattumoral volume is significantly reduced by curcumin. Curcumin-treated group elicited an increased doubling time of 5.37 days (IC 4.303 to 7.150) compared to that of vehicle-treated control group (4.50 days, IC 3.620 to 5.931).Tumoral weight also showed a tendency to decrease in curcumin-treated group. There were no differences between treatments in body, spleen, liver or testes weight. There were no changes in body weight between day 1 and 15 in neither of the groups. In conclusion, curcumin reduces Leydig tumorcell growth both in vitro and in vivo, being these the first evidences of its therapeutic action over Leydig cell tumors.