Fentanyl Increases Colorectal Carcinoma Cell Apoptosis by Inhibition of NF-κB in a Sirt1-dependent Manner

Background: Fentanyl is used as an analgesic to treat pain in a variety of patients with cancer and recently it has become considered to also act as an antitumor agent. The study present was designed to investigate the effects of fentanyl on colorectal cancer cell growth and plausible mechanisms. Materials and Methods: The human colorectal carcinoma cell line HCT116 was subcutaneously injected into nude mice. The viability of HCT116 was tested by MTT assay, and apoptosis by flow cytometry and caspase-3 activity. The expression of Sirtl and NF-kappa B were evaluated by Western blotting and the levels of Sirtl and NF-kappa B by fluorescence method. SiRNA was used to silence and Ad-Sirtl to overexpress Sirtl. Results: Our data showed that fentanyl could inhibit tumor growth, with increased expression of Sirtl and down-regulation of Ac-p65 in tumors. Compared with control cells without treatment, HCT116 cells that were incubated with fentanyl had a higher apoptotic rate. Moreover, fentanyl could increase expression and activity of Sirtl and inhibitor expression and activity of NF-kappa B, which might be mechanisms of fentanyl action. Conclusions: Fentanyl increased colorectal carcinoma cell apoptosis by inhibition of NF-kappa B activation in a Sirtl-dependent manner.