Effects of Epinephrine on Gastric Adenocarcinoma and Brain Glioblastoma Cancer Cells

Introduction: Gastric cancer is the third cause of death in all malignancies and the fifth most common neoplasm resulting from a combination of specific genetic alteration and environmental factors. Chronic stress can also promote brain tumor cell proliferation and leads to brain metastasis highly resistant to chemotherapy. Catecholamines, norepinephrine, and epinephrine impact neurochemistry and endocrine and immune system functions. The present study investigated the effect of different epinephrine concentrations and β-adrenergic receptor antagonists (propranolol) on proliferation, viability, and adhesion of gastric adenocarcinoma and brain glioblastoma cells. Material: and methods: The human gastric cancer AGS cells and glioblastoma, U87 cell lines were obtained from the Iranian Biological Resource Center (Tehran, Iran) and cultured in RPMI-1640 culture medium supplements. The studied cells were categorized into the nine groups following treatment with epinephrine and propranolol. Wound healing assay (proliferation), Adhesion assay, and cell viability were performed on each group. Graph Pad Prism 6 was used for the statistical analysis. Results: : Proliferation, Viability, cytotoxicity, and adhesion of both cell lines changed under epinephrine agonism in the presence and absence of propranolol (P value<0.001). Epinephrine enhanced the proliferation of both AGS and U87 cells in physiological concentrations, decreased adhesion and viability, and increased cytotoxicity in pharmacological concentrations. Conclusion: Using a combination of epinephrine and chemotherapy agents in the right stage of developing tumors may have more substantial effects on destroying cancer cells, obtaining the patient's recovery with less repetition of chemotherapy sessions, and curing high-grade cancer tumors.