The Effect Of Celecoxib On Proliferation, Apoptosis And Hormonal Production In Rat GH₃Cells Of Pituitary Adenoma

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of celecoxib on proliferation, apoptosis andhormonal production in rat GH3cells of pituitary adenoma.MethodsAll rat GH3cells used in this trials were in logarithmic phase. Using differentconcentrations of celecoxib (0、20、40、80μmol/L) to intervention rat GH3cellsof pituitary adenoma in vitro. The proliferation of GH3cells were observed byMMT assay. The apoptosis of GH3cells were evaluated by TUNEL assay. Thechange of prolactin secretion was measured by ELISA．The expression ofCOX-2, Bax, Bcl-2and caspase-3proteins in GH3cells were examined byWestern blot.ResultsAfter different concentrations of celecoxib(0、20、40、80μmol/L) effect onGH3cells. MTT assay showed that celecoxib can reduce the level of GH3cellproliferation, showed a concentration-dependent manner, compared with thecontrol group, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05), TUNELresults showed that after treatment with celecoxib, GH3cell apoptosis levelswere significantly increased, ELISA assay demonstrated that celecoxibdecreased cell secretion of prolactin levels, compared with the control group,the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Western blot analysisshowed that the expression levels of Bax and caspase-3were up-regulated,while the expression levels of COX-2and Bcl-2were down-regulated, presentedconcentration-dependent manner, compared with the control group, thedifference was statistically significant (P<0.05). ConclusionWithin the scope of this study, Celecoxib can inhibit the proliferation,promote the apoptosis and decrease expression level of prolactin of rat GH3cells. the mechanism may directly inhibit the expression of COX-2, increaseexpression of Bax and reduce expression of Bcl-2, thus increase caspase-3activation. COX-2may be a therapeutic target for pituitary adenomas, it is worthfurther study.