Abstract：Abstract：Objective To investigate the effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on proliferation and lipid peroxidation (LPO) of esophageal adenocarcinoma cells (EAC) and esophageal squamous carcinoma cells (ESCC) . Methods The Eca-109 (ESCC) and OE-19 (EAC) cells were treated with DHA in three different concentrations (100, 50, 1μmol/L) for 24 h. Cell proliferation was assessed by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. The concentrations of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malonaldehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) were determined by WST-1, TBA and nitrate reductase method, respectively. Results Cell growth of OE-19 was inhibited by DHA in a concentration-dependent manner (P<0.05), while suppression of Eca-109 was only found in high concentration (100μmol/L) (P<0.05). In both groups, the levels of MDA and NO were increased in a concentration-dependent manner after DHA treatment (P<0.05). For Eca-109 cells, the inhibition of SOD activities were merely found in 100 μmol/L group (P<0.05), while the SOD levels in OE-19 cells showed a down-regulation after treatment of DHA in 1 and 50 μmol/L, but were sharply increased in 100 μmol/L treated group(P<0.05). Conclusions DHA treatment results in a steady growth inhibition in EAC cells, but not in ESCC cells. Activation of LPO is found in both Eca-109 cells and OE-19 cells after DHA treatment. Balance between LPO and SOD in EAC and ESCC may play a key role in the DHA induced cell growth inhibition.
2014, Vol. 1 
