title: Effects of treatment with platinum azidothymidine and azidothymidine on telomerase activity and bcl-2 concentration in hepatocellular carcinoma- induced rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Telomerase activity increases in cancer cells. Bcl-2 is an antiapoptotic factor that its concentration grows in many cancer cells including hepato-cellular carcinoma cells. In this study, an attempt was made to investigate the effects of a new synthetic compound, platinum azidothymidine (Pt-AZT) on treatment of rats with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) and to compare its effects with azidothymidine (AZT) in alteration of telomerase activity and Bcl-2 concentration in HCC.
  
  
  METHODS
  Healthy adult male Wistar rats (n = 100) were randomly divided into 4 groups (A, B, C, and D). Group A contained 25 healthy rats and was considered as the control group. Liver preneoplastic lesions were induced in remaining animals (n = 75) using Solt-Farber resistant hepatocyte protocol. These animals were randomly allocated in groups B, C and D. Group B was negative control (untreated), groups C and D were treated by intraperitoneal injection (IP) of Pt-AZT (0.9 mg/kg/day) and AZT (0.3 mg/kg/day), respectively for 14 days. After the treatment period, telomerase activity and Bcl-2 concentration were determined in the rats' liver.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No HCC was developed in group A, but tumors were present in all other groups. Telomerase activity and Bcl-2 concentration were significantly lower in group C compared to groups B (0.159±0.06 vs. 0.577±0.116 IU/L, p < 0.001, respect-ively and 0.931±0.388 vs. 3.94±0.74 ng/ml, p < 0.001, respectively). Similar results were observed in comparison with group D (0.331±0.06 vs. 0.577±0.116 IU/L, p < 0.001, respectively and 0.931±0.388 vs. 2.94±0.594 ng/ml, respectively). There was a significant negative correlation between telomerase activity and Bcl-2 concentration only in untreated cancer group (p = 0.034).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, higher anticancer activity of Pt-AZT in comparison to AZT was demonstrated. It effectively inhibits the growth of liver tumor in rats through extending apoptosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Abdolreza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sabokrouh
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Molecular Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Taghi
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Goodarzi
authors.affiliation: Molecular Diagnostic Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
authors.forename: Asad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vaisi-Raygani
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Shohreh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khatami
authors.affiliation: Department of Tissue Engineering, Reproductive Biotechnology Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taghizadeh-Jahed
keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; Platinum azidothymidine; Telomerase activity