Effects of vitamin D3 and its chemical analogs on the growth of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, in vitro

OBJECTIVE: Vitamin D receptor (VDR) activities have been noted for a number of B cell malignancies which showed varying sensitivities to vitamin D3 (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, VD3, calcitriol) and its synthetic analogs. The objective of this study was to address the potential effects of VD3 and vitamin D3 analogs (VDAs) on the growth of Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL), a malignant pathology of B cell origin, in vitro. RESULTS: Immunofluorescence staining showed the expression of VDR by primary Hodgkin’s (H) and Reed–Sternberg (RS)—HRS-tumor cells in HL histological sections. Western blot analyses revealed expression of VDR in the HL cell lines Hs445, HDLM2, KMH2, and L428. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) on data obtained from water-soluble tetrazolium 1 (WST-1) cell proliferation assay showed decreased cell growth in HDLM2 and L428, 72 h after treatment with 10 µM of either VD3 of VDAs. Western blot analyses showed that treatment of L428 cells with the VDAs (calcipotriol and EB1089) resulted in modest increases in nuclear accumulation of VDR (nuVDR) compared to either dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or VD3 treatments. nuVDR for DMSO control and VD3 was comparable. These results suggest that VD3 or VDAs may affect growth of HL.