Effect of CO2 pneumoperitoneum on the proliferation of human ovarian cancer cell line SKOV-3 and the expression of NM23-H1 and MMP-2.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the impacts of CO2 pneumoperitoneum on the growth of ovarian cancer in nude mice and the expression of tumor metastasis suppressor gene (NM23-H1) and matrix metalloproteinase -2 (MMP-2) in SKOV-3 ovarian cancer cell line cancer tissue.
Method: Forty five nude mice were used to establish ovarian cancer xenograft models by intraperitoneal injection of human ovarian cancer cell line SKOV-3. Murine xenograft models were divided into four groups: control group (only anesthetized for 0.5 h), laparotomy group (laparotomy for 0.5 h), CO2 pneumoperitoneum of 0.5 h, and CO2 pneumoperitoneum of 1 h group. Mice were killed after 12 weeks to observe intraperitoneal tumor growth and detected mRNA expression of NM23-H1 and MMP-2 in tumor tissues by RT-PCR.
Result: Our data show that xenograft tumors grew faster in the CO2 pneumoperitoneum groups than that in control and laparotomy groups and even faster in the CO2 pneumoperitoneum of 1 h group. The mRNA expression of NM23-H1 in CO2 pneumoperitoneum groups was significantly lower than that in control group and laparotomy group (P < 0.01). Moreover, the longer duration of CO2 pneumoperitoneum negatively correlated with lower expression of NM23-H1 (P < 0.01). In contrast to NM23-H1, MMP-2 expression was significantly higher in CO2 pneumoperitoneum groups than that in the control group and laparotomy group (P < 0.01) and positively correlated with the duration of CO2 pneumoperitoneum (P < 0.01). In addition, there was a negative correlation between the expression of NM23-H1 and MMP-2 (r = -0.984, P < 0.05).
Conclusion: The CO2 pneumoperitoneum could promote the proliferation and metastasis of human ovarian cancer in nude mice. This effect was positively correlated with the duration of CO2 pneumoperitoneum.