Cytotoxicity effect of arsenic on HaCat cells and protective effect of N-acetylcysteine

  Objective   To study the cytotoxicity of sodium arsenite(NaAsO₂)on keratinocytes(HaCaT)and the protective effect of N-acetylcysteine(NAC).

  Methods   The HaCaT cells were treated with sodium arsenite alone or pre-treated with NAC for 24 hours, followed by the addition of sodium arsenite.AlarmarBlue assay was used to detect the proliferation of the cells.

  Results   The reduction rate of AlarmarBlue increased when the HaCaT cells were treated with 0.001 μmol/L^-1 μmol/L of NaAsO₂ alone(P < 0.05).When pre-treated with NAC for 24 hours, the reduction rate increased significantly in the 20 μmol/L group compared with the group treated with 20μmol/L of NaAsO₂ alone(P < 0.05).

  Conclusion   Low levels of NaAsO₂ stimulate the proliferation of HaCaT cells while high levels inhibit it.NAC can alleviate the cytotoxicity of asenic, which indicate that the cellular GSH exert the important protective effects on the cytotoxicity of arsenic.