Introduction: This study aims to compare the antioxidant abilities of cervical squamous carcinoma cells and cervical adenocarcinoma cells and to study the related mechanisms.
Material and methods: Cervical squamous carcinoma and adenocarcinoma cells were treated with H₂O₂. Cell proliferation was determined with the MTT assay. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) level was detected by the 2’,7’-dichlorofluorescein-diacetate (DCFH-DA) method. The 5,5’-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid (DTNB) method was performed to measure intracellular concentrations of reduced glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG). The nitrite formation method, the molybdate colorimetric method, and the DTNB colorimetric method were used to determine activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), respectively.
Results: Compared with untreated control cells, cell proliferation of cervical squamous carcinoma cells and cervical adenocarcinoma cells was significantly inhibited by H₂O₂ treatment (p < 0.05). Reactive oxygen species levels and GSSG levels were significantly increased (p < 0.01), whereas GSH levels were significantly decreased (p < 0.05 or 0.01) in both cells after H₂O₂ treatment. Thus the ratio of GSH/GSSG was significantly decreased by H₂O₂ treatment in both cells (p < 0.01). In addition, H₂O₂ treatment significantly increased activities of SOD, CAT, and GPx in both cells (p < 0.05 or 0.01). Furthermore, the above-mentioned changes induced by H₂O₂ treatment were more dramatic in cervical squamous carcinoma cells.
Conclusions: The antioxidant ability of cervical squamous carcinoma cells is lower than that of cervical adenocarcinoma cells, which may be related to the increased ROS levels in cervical squamous carcinoma cells induced by H₂O₂ treatments.