Vitamin C effects influenced by environmentEffects of hypoxia and iron on ascorbic acid-mediated cytotoxicity in prostate cancer cell lines.
We investigated how vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid (ASC), interacts with prostate cancer cells under different conditions. Our focus was on the influence of oxygen levels and iron availability on the effectiveness of ASC against various prostate cancer cell lines, such as PC-3, DU 145, LNCaP, and CWR22Rv1.
Interestingly, we found that low oxygen conditions, or hypoxia, actually increased the amount of ASC needed to show cytotoxic effects in these cancer cells. However, this effect was not seen in normal prostate cells, which suggests that the cancer cells have unique responses to their environment. We also tested the synthetic androgen dihydrotestosterone, a common factor in prostate cancer, but it did not change how effective ASC was in either low or normal oxygen levels.
When we looked at the broader impact of hypoxia, we discovered that it did not alter the effectiveness of the DNA-damaging drug etoposide but did reduce the effectiveness of the anti-microtubule agent paclitaxel in certain cancer lines. Despite observing that hypoxic cells were low in iron, adding iron back into the cells did not restore sensitivity to ASC. In fact, we noted that the concentration of ASC needed to be higher in iron-treated PC-3 cells compared to those without iron.
Overall, our findings indicate that both hypoxia and iron levels can diminish the therapeutic effectiveness of high doses of vitamin C in prostate cancer cells. This highlights the complexity of using vitamin C as a treatment, as these environmental factors might impact its potential benefits for patients with prostate cancer.