title: Effect of steroids and antisteroids on human meningioma cells in primary culture.
abstract: Human meningiomas are rich in progestin receptors but virtually devoid of oestrogen receptors. We have studied the hormonal sensitivity of meningioma cells in vitro during 8 days of primary culture in the presence of different steroids and antisteroids. On day 8 the thymidine labelling index (TLI) was determined as a measure of cell growth. To date 30 cultures have been established from 39 tissue specimens. 13 cultures had a TLI below 1.0 and their growth were not affected by hormones. The TLI of the other 17 cultures was 3.0 +/- 1.7 (mean +/- SD; range 1.2-7.7). Following culture in the presence of 1 and 10 nM progesterone TLI was 83 +/- 28% (n = 9) and 61 +/- 29% (n = 3) of that of the control cultures respectively. Although in individual cultures occasional differences were found, the overall values are not statistically different from 100. Similarly, 1 nM of oestradiol and testosterone had no effect on the TLI (n = 3). Tamoxifen at 1 nM increased the TLI to 138% in one culture and decreased it to 66% of the control in another. The antiprogestin mifepristone (RU 486) in concentrations of 0.1, 1.0, 10, 100 and 1000 nM decreased the TLI to 72 +/- 30; 54 +/- 20; 55 +/- 20; 59 +/- 18 and 65 +/- 10 respectively (n = 6-15; P less than 0.05 vs control). It is concluded that although a growth promoting effect of progestins on meningioma could not be shown, the therapeutic possibilities of antiprogestins warrant further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Academic Hospital Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Blankenstein
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van der Meulen-Dijk
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Thijssen
mesh_terms: D004261:DNA Replication / Q000187:drug effects; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms; D008579:Meningioma; D015735:Mifepristone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011374:Progesterone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D013963:Thyroid Hormones; D013629:Tamoxifen; D015735:Mifepristone; D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol