OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of adriamycin (ADM) in enhancing the sonodynamic effect of chlorin e6 against the proliferation of human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells in vitro.

METHODSMDA-MB-231 cells were treated with ultrasound/Chlorin e6 alone or in combination with ADM, and the changes in the cell proliferation was determined by MTT assay.

RESULTSUltrasound (1.0 MHz) at the power intensity of 0.5-2.0 W/cm2 inhibited the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells in an intensity-dependent manner, and chlorin-e6 (0.05-1.6 mg/ml) and ADM (0.1-0.4 g/ml) alone both inhibited the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells dose-dependently. Compared with ultrasound (0.5 W/cm2, 1.0 MHz, 60 s) or chlorin-e6 (0.05-0.2 mg/ml) alone, a combined treatment with ultrasound and chlorin e6 significantly enhanced the inhibitory effect on the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells (P<0.05). ADM significantly enhanced the sonodynamic effect of chlorin e6 (0.1 mg/ml) against the cell proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells (P<0.05), and the effect was schedule-dependent, which was greater when ADM was added after the sonodynamic treatment (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONADM can enhance the sonodynamic effect of chlorin e6 against the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells in vitro.