Comparison of the anti-neoplastic effects of dirhodium(II) tetrapropionate and its adducts with nicotinate and isonicotinate anions in mice bearing Ehrlich tumors

Rhodium(II) propionate, [Rh2(prop)4], and its adduct with nicotinate (nic-) and isonicotinate (isonic-) anions, [Rh2(prop)4(nic)2](2-) and [Rh2(prop)4(isonic)2](2-), respectively, were prepared for study. The compound effects on the survival rate of mice bearing Ehrlich ascites tumors were tested and presented in the form of a survival table, and analyzed by the Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test for N animals in each group. The survival rates of animals were significantly higher than that of control group (P<0.001) without distinguishing among the experimental groups. The estimated probability for an animal in the control group to survive up to the end of the observation period (30 days) was below 33%, whereas the animal groups in the treated group with complex, and its nicotinate and isonicotinate groups showed 85%, 85% and 90%, respectively, of surviving over the same period. The T/C values (survival average of the animals treated group/survival average of the animals control group) were obtained for each compounds being for the dirhodium propionate T/C=250, and for its adducts with nicotinate and isonicotinate anions, 267 and 264, respectively.