Escitalopram oxalate, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, exhibits cytotoxic and apoptotic effects in glioma C6 cells

Objective: Various antidepressants, mainly tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), have been reported to exhibit potent anticancer properties in different cancer cells. In this study, we evaluated the antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of escitalopram oxalate (25, 50, 100 and 200 mu M) on rat C6 glioma cells. Methods: Cell proliferations were measured by [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2-5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] (MTT) assay, apoptosis was observed by flow cytometric analysis on C6 cells. Results: Significant decreases in the proliferation of C6 glioma cells were detected depending on increases in the escitalopram concentrations and incubation periods. When compared to controls, C6 cell proliferations after 24 h incubation were determined with 97.7, 85.9, 74.5 and 67.9% for 25, 50, 100 and 200 mu M escitalopram, respectively, while the cell proliferations after 48 h were established as 96.5, 68.0, 50.7 and 39.9% for 25, 50, 100 and 200 mu M concentrations, respectively. IC50 value of escitalopram was able to be calculated as 106.97 mu M after 48 h. Based on Annexin V-propidium iodide (PI) binding capacity for 25, 50, 100 and 200 mu M escitalopram, apoptotic effects were determined as 17.0, 22.3, 12.5 and 7.8%, respectively. Conclusion: Based on our findings, escitalopram oxalate was observed to induce cytotoxic and apoptotic activities in C6 cells.