Effects of curcumin, D-pinitol alone or in combination in cytotoxicity induced by arsenic in PC12 cells

Arsenic is a well-known potent toxicant affecting people by causing various human diseases. Long-term exposure to arsenic has strong adverse health effects on liver and kidney disorders, and various forms of cancer. Contrarily, curcumin and D-pinitol are bioactive dietary compounds that have antioxidant properties. Both are used to treat a broad variety of human diseases. Thus, we hypothesized that both may have synergistic effects against arsenic-induced toxicity in PC12 cells. Cells were pretreated with curcumin (1, 2.5, 5 and 10 μM), D-pinitol (1, 2.5, 5 and 10 μM) alone or in combination, then exposed to sodium arsenite (10 μM). The final concentration of curcumin 2.5 μM and D-pinitol 5 μM was selected for combination treatment based on their highest protection at lowest concentration against arsenic toxicity. Results demonstrated that pretreatment of curcumin and D-pinitol and their combined treatment with arsenic rescued PC12 cells. Western blot analysis results showed that pretreatment of curcumin and D-pinitol and their combined treatment with arsenic significantly inhibited arsenic-induced cell death through up-regulation of pro-survival proteins and down-regulation of cell death-related proteins, although these protein expressions were negatively regulated by arsenic. Furthermore, the effect of combined treatment with curcumin and D-pinitol was stronger than individual treatment. [Display omitted] •Curcumin (50 and 100 μM) decreases cell viability of PC12 cells unlike D-pinitol.•Arsenic induced cell death via both mitochondria-mediated intrinsic apoptosis and autophagy.•Curcumin and D-pinitol alone or in combination efficiently protects PC12 cells from arsenic-induced cytotoxicity.•The combined cytoprotection of curcumin and D-pinitol against arsenic-toxicity was higher than their individual protection.