title: Increased melphalan activity in intracranial human medulloblastoma and glioma xenografts following buthionine sulfoximine-mediated glutathione depletion.
abstract: In previous studies we demonstrated that administration of buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) to athymic BALB/c mice bearing intracranial human glioma xenografts resulted in highly selective depletion of glutathione in neoplastic tissue with minimal effects on contralateral normal brain tissue. In the present study we treated athymic BALB/c mice bearing intracranial human glioma (D-54 MG) or medulloblastoma (TE-671) xenografts with melphalan alone or BSO followed by melphalan. Administration of BSO depleted intracellular glutathione to 7.5% of the control level. BSO plus melphalan resulted in a significant increase in median survival over that produced by melphalan alone: 45.3% versus 26.4% in TE-671 and 69% versus 27.6% in D-54 MG. These studies justify further efforts to modulate chemotherapeutic and radiotherapeutic interventions of primary malignant brain tumors by depletion of glutathione.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: O M
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Colvin
authors.forename: O W
authors.initials: OW
authors.lastname: Griffith
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lippitz
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Elion
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Schold
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hilton
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Bigner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019328:Buthionine Sulfoximine; D004347:Drug Interactions; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008527:Medulloblastoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D008558:Melphalan / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008717:Methionine Sulfoximine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation
chemical_list: D008717:Methionine Sulfoximine; D019328:Buthionine Sulfoximine; D005978:Glutathione; D008558:Melphalan