Comparison of the Therapeutic Effect of Sinapic Acid in Drug-Resistant and Non-Resistant Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Sinapic acid (SA) has been shown to have anti-bacterial, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, and neuroprotective effects in pre-clinical and in vitro investigations. Especially in cancer studies, it has been shown that SA has an anti-cancer effect. SA reduced proliferation and induced apoptosis in cancer cells. In this study, the effect of SA on drug resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma was investigated. For this purpose, cells resistant to sorafenib were obtained. According to the gene expression analysis performed in resistant cells, the expression of MDR1, hCE-1 and hCE-2 increased significantly. Then, specific doses of sinapic acid were applied to both Hep3B and resistant Hep3B cell lines. The IC50 dose for Hep3B cells was determined by XTT analysis. The cytotoxic effect of SA was different in resistant and non-resistant cells. The IC50 dose of SA was increased in resistant cells compared to Hep3B cells. The chemotherapeutic applications of herbal chemicals have been widely studied. However, drug resistance against frequently used chemotherapeutics is the biggest obstacle to treatment. This study showed that the dose of SA applied to resistant cells should be increased. This suggests that when the resistance mechanism occurs, the herbal chemicals are also effused out of the cell like drugs. It is necessary to study the intracellular interactions of SA with further studies.