sensitivity of human leukemic cells to carvedilol

Background and objective: carvedilol, a non-specific β-blocker, has been used for treatment of hypertension, stroke and congestive heart failure. the therapeutic effects of β blockers in cancer patients have been shown. carvedilol has considerable anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and anti-angiogenic properties. in this study, the effects of carvedilol on proliferation of human u937 and molt-4 leukemic cells were studied in vitro. materials and methods: human leukemic t cells [molt-4] and monocytes [u937] were cultured in roswell park memorial institute (rpmi) 1640 complete medium and were treated with different concentrations of carvedilol (1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 μg/ml) for 24, 48 and 72 hours. the cytotoxicity of carvedilol on u937 and molt-4 cells was determined using mtt (3-[4, 5 dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay. results: carvedilol significantly decreased human u937 and molt-4 leukemic cells proliferation, concentrationand time-dependently in comparison with control cells. conclusion: according to our results, carvedilol has anti-proliferative effect on u937 and molt-4 leukemic cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. thus, carvedilol might be a useful candidate for treatment of leukemic patients as well as other cancers.