Glutathione is key to the synergistic enhancement of doxorubicin and etoposide by polyphenols in leukaemia cell lines

Recently published in Nature: Cell Death and Discovery, Mahbub et al.1 have demonstrated that polyphenols can synergistically enhance the action of the topoisomerase II inhibitors: doxorubicin and etoposide in leukaemia cells. A reduction of glutathione (GSH) was strongly associated with sensitising cells to the pro-apoptotic effects of polyphenols when used in combination with doxorubicin or etoposide. Importantly, when polyphenols and topoisomerase II inhibitors were combined, it was possible to induce a synergistic decrease in cell proliferation (measured as ATP levels), cell-cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis in leukaemia cell lines.