The effects of inositol hexaphosphate on the inflammatory response in transformed RAW 264.7 macrophages.

Inositol hexaphosphate (IP6) has received much attention for its role in interfering with tumor progression and slowing the metastasis of neoplastic cells. However, there is little information regarding the antioxidant properties of IP6 or its ability to enhance the natural disease resistance of the body. The specific objectives of this experiment were to investigate the effects that IP6 might have on the proliferation and viability of RAW 264.7 transformed macrophages and to morphologically and biochemically investigate the role of IP6 as a free radical scavenger. Transformed RAW macrophages were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (Rockville, MD) and maintained in sterile media (RPMI) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum and 1% antibiotics and antimycotics. The cells were plated on to 24 well plates at a density of 1 x 10(5) cells/well. The cells were divided into five groups of four wells per group per phase (24, 48, and 72 hours). Cells in Group I were treated with media alone and served as controls. Cells in Group II were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) only. Cells in groups III, IV, and V were treated with 1000 microliters of IP6 + LPS, 500 microliters of IP6 + LPS, and 100 microliters of IP6 + LPS, respectively. Cell numbers, as well as, morphology, MDA, and protein were determined at the end of 24, 48, and 72 hours. Data obtained from this investigation revealed that the rate of cell proliferation was totally dependent on the dose of IP6. At 24 and 48 hours and upon the exposure of high dose of IP6 the mitotic ability of the cells was higher (p < 0.05) than the rate at the 72 hour phase. Morphological evaluation of cells at all three phases revealed that there were significant changes in the architecture of cells upon the exposure of IP6 compared to the control group. The results of this study suggest that IP6 may have had an excitatory effect on the inflammatory cell secretions and this phenomenon was found to be dose dependent.