Dose- and Time-Dependent Response of Human Leukemia (HL-60) Cells to Arsenic Trioxide Treatment

The treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) has been based on the administration of all-trans retinoic acid plus anthracycline chemotherapy, which is very effective as first line therapy; however 25 to 30% of patients will relapse with their disease becoming refractory to conventional therapy. Recently, studies have shown arsenic trioxide to be effective in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia. In this study, we used the human leukemia (HL-60) cell line as a model to evaluate the cytoxicity of arsenic trioxide based on the MTT assay. Data obtained from this assay indicated that arsenic trioxide significantly reduced the viability of HL-60 cells, showing LD(50) values of 14.26 ± 0.5μg/mL, 12.54 ± 0.3μg/mL, and 6.4 ± 0.6μg/mL upon 6, 12, and 24 hours of exposure, respectively; indicating a dose- and time-dependent response relationship. Findings from the present study indicate that arsenic trioxide is highly cytotoxic to human leukemia (HL-60) cells, supporting its use as an effective therapeutic agent in the management of acute promyelocytic leukemia.