Protective role of vitamin C in diazepam-induced apoptosis in rat thymocytes
Bratisl Lek Listy. 2012;113(6):350-3
Authors: Pavlovic V, Pavlovic D, Kamenov B, Sarac M, Peric Z, Velojic M
Abstract
Diazepam, a peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor ligand, is widely used as a therapeutic agent. On the other hand, peripheral-type benzodiazepines have been shown to induce apoptosis in different immune cell types.
In this study, we examined the possible protective role of vitamin C in diazepam-induced apoptosis and evaluated the cellular content of glutathione during this process. Rat thymocytes were incubated for 24 hours with diazepam and increasing concentrations of vitamin C or with diazepam alone.
The exposure to diazepam resulted in an increase in apoptotic cell death and decrease in glutathione content in rat thymocytes.
Vitamin C was effective in ameliorating the effect of diazepam in rat thymocytes by decreasing the proportion of apoptotic cells and increasing the cellular content of glutathione.
These results suggest that vitamin C reduced the diazepam-induced apoptosis in rat thymocytes by restoring the cellular content of glutathione, which may be useful in preventing the diazepam-induced immunosupression (Tab. 1, Fig. 1, Ref. 31).
PMID: 22693970
Benzodiazepines outside of the nervous system kill lymphocytes by inducing apoptosis – cell death by programmed suicide – and reduce glutathione content in thymocytes.
Vitamin C reverses this effect by preventing apoptosis and increasing cellular glutathione.