Proliferation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells during calcium channel blockade

To evaluate the role of intracellular calcium and particularly Ca²⁺ uptake in the initiation of lymphocyte mitogenesis, the effect of mibefradil—which blocks both L- and T-type calcium channels with a more selective blockade of T-type channels—on the proliferation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) is compared with the effect of nifedipine, which blocks only the L-type calcium channel. The rate of ³H-thymidine, ³H-uridine, and ³H-leucine incorporation into control and concanavalin A-stimulated PBMC in the presence or absence of the calcium channel blockers mibefradil or nifedipine (1, 10, or 50 μmol/L), and of the intracellular calcium antagonist TMB-8 or the calmodulin antagonist W-7 (1, 10, 25, or 50 μmol/L) was assayed in cells cultured for 3 days. The cellular cytotoxicity and the cell number in growing cultures was also determined in mibefradil- or nifedipine-treated control or stimulated cells. Mibefradil and nifedipine reduced the cell number and the ³H-thymidine, ³H-uridine, or ³H-leucine incorporation or the de novo DNA, RNA, or protein synthesis in control and concanavalin A-stimulated human PBMC in a concentration-dependent manner. Mibefradil exhibited a more pronounced inhibition than nifedipine. The inhibitory effect of mibefradil or nifedipine on DNA synthesis was dependent upon the timing of treatment with the drugs. The inhibitory effect of mibefradil or nifedipine on the lymphoproliferative response was nearly abolished if the drugs were added 20 h after cell stimulation. A markedly reduced inhibitory effect was found when mibefradil or nifedipine were added 1 to 7 h after cell stimulation. However, regardless of time of addition, TMB-8 and W-7 caused a persistent inhibition of the proliferation of human PBMC. Our data show that mibefradil had a more pronounced inhibitory effect on the proliferation of human PBMC than nifedipine and that this inhibitory effect on de novo DNA synthesis was dependent upon the timing of treatment with both drugs. Mibefradil and nifedipine also reduce RNA and protein synthesis in human PBMC.

Therefore, administration of these calcium channel blockers to inhibit cellular proliferation might be most beneficial at anatomic sites where cellular proliferation is not already an active process, while being ineffective in the presence of ongoing active proliferation, as suggested by some prospective studies.