Silibinin improved the function of T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) co-cultured with U-87 MG cell line

Abadi, Banafshe; Abdesheikhi, Jahangir; Sedghy, Farnaz; Mahmoodi, Merat; Fallah, Hossein

doi:10.22038/ajp.2023.22935

Silibinin improved the function of T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) co-cultured with U-87 MG cell line

Document Type : Short communication

Authors

¹ Herbal and Traditional Medicines Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Brain Cancer Research Core, Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Kerman, Iran

² Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

³ Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

10.22038/ajp.2023.22935

Abstract

Objective: Silibinin has exhibited antitumor activities. However, there are few reports about the immunomodulatory properties of silibinin on T lymphocyte function in the tumor microenvironment. Here, we determined the effects of silibinin on T cells of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), cultivated alone or with a human cell line of glioblastoma (U-87 MG).
Materials and Methods: The proliferation of T lymphocytes was assessed by MTT test in the presence of silibinin (15 and 45 µM). Also, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), the activity of superoxide dismutase-3 (SOD3), and the levels of two cytokines interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and tumor growth beta (TGF-β) were compared between treated and untreated PBMCs alone or co-cultured with U-87 cells.
Results: According to our results, silibinin raised the TAC levels and SOD3 activity in the PBMCs and in the co-culture condition. Moreover, silibinin-treated PBMCs showed higher IFN-γ levels and lower TGF-β levels. Interestingly, silibinin protected PBMCs against the U-87-induced suppression.
Conclusion: Altogether, these results proposed the immunomodulatory potential of silibinin on T cells of PBMCs, as well as its partially protective effects on PBMCs against the suppression induced by U-87 MG cells.

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