Quinacrine dihydrochloride

An acridine derivative formerly widely used as an antimalarial but superseded by chloroquine in recent years. It has also been used as an anthelmintic and in the treatment of giardiasis and malignant effusions. It is used in cell biological experiments as an inhibitor of phospholipase A2. (In Vitro) :Quinacrine (5-20 μM; 24 hours) inhibits the growth of SGC-7901 cells.Quinacrine (7.5 and 15 μM; 24 hours) induces apoptosis in SGC-7901 cells, which is associated with mitochondria-dependent signal pathway and involves p53 upregulation and caspase-3 activation pathway.Quinacrine (15 μM; 24 hours) treatment significantly increased the levels of proapoptotic proteins, including cytochrome c, Bax, and p53, and decreased the levels of antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2, thus shifting the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 in favor of apoptosis . (In Vivo) :Quinacrine (100 mg/kg three times per week for two consecutive weeks) significantly suppresses circulating blast cells at days 30/31 and increases the median survival time (MST) . Quinacrine does not decrease the body weight of treated animals at the tested dose.