Overcoming of P-glycoprotein mediated vincristine resistance of L1210/VCR mouse leukemic cells could be induced by pentoxifyline but not by theophylline and caffeine.

Effects of xanthine derivatives (pentoxifylline, caffeine, theophylline, 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine) on P-glycoprotein mediated vincristine resistance of L1210/VCR mouse leukemic cell subline were studied. From the applied xanthines only PTX was found to reverse the vincristine resistance of the above cells. Moreover, only PTX, but not other xanthine, increased the accumulation of [3H]vincristine by L1210/VCR cells. Thus it may be concluded that PTX-induced reversal of vincristine resistance could not be explained from the point of known pharmacological effects of PTX that are common for other xanthines such as inhibition of phosphodiesterase activity, calcium mobilizing effect, inhibition of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF), etc.