Cytotoxic Effect Of Verapamil On Human Embryonic Kidney Cell Line

Introduction The link between long term use of verapamil and cancer development has been suggested in literature many years back. However there are numerous controversies surrounding this association with several epidemiological studies in the positive negative and non-association between verapamil and cancer development. Aim To investigate in mechanistic terms the link between chronic use of a calcium channel blocker verapamil and cancer development using human embryonic kidney HEK293 cell line. Method Trypan blue dye exclusion cell counting and 3-26615314 5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl2661533-2 5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide MTT assays were used to determine the proliferative as well as cytotoxic effects of verapamil. Results Verapamil had a growth inhibitory rather than proliferative effect on HEK293 cells and the growth inhibition was found to be significant p0.05. Conclusion The long term use of verapamil is associated with cellular growth inhibition and this possibly explained the rationale behind its use as part of combination chemotherapy for some human cancers.