MDR-reversal activity of chalcones.

The ability of 11 chalcones with 3,4,5-trimethoxy substitution on ring A to inhibit the transport activity of P-glycoprotein was studied. Flow cytometry was applied in multidrug-resistant human mdr1 gene-transfected mouse lymphoma cells (L 5178 Y). The reversal of multidrug resistance (MDR) was investigated by measuring the accumulation of rhodamine-123 in cancer cells. Verapamil was applied as a positive control. The majority of the tested compounds were proved to be effective inhibitors of the outward transport of rhodamine-123. In the MTT test, chalcones 2, 3, 5 and 7 exhibited the strongest antiproliferative effects, with 50% inhibitory dose (ID50) =0.19, 0.19, 0.29 and 0.14 microg/mL, respectively. The least effective compounds were 1, 4, 8 and 11, with ID50 values in the range of 1.5-3.5 microg/mL. The antiproliferative effect was shown to be affected by the type of substitution at the p-position on ring B. Chalcone 7, with a p-chloro group on ring B, was the most effective in MDR reversal, causing a marked increase in drug accumulation from 0.4 to 40 microg/mL. In combination with epirubicin, compound 7 displayed synergistic properties while compound 3 exhibited an additive effect. The data presented here indicated that some calcone derivatives can be regarded as effective compounds for reversal of MDR.