Fig. 2

Ceftazidime (CFT) and cefepime (CFP) antagonize 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)’s effect on two colon cancer cell lines (DLD-1 cells (A) and HCT-116 (B)) but not on human normal intestinal cells (FHs74Int). On monocyte-like cells (THP-1 and U937), on the other hand, only CFT antagonizes 5-FU’s effect. Effect of 5-FU {(8 μM, HCT-116 cells) or (16 μM, DLD-1/FHs74Int/THP-1/U937 cells)}, CFP (50 μg/mL), CFT (100 μg/mL) and their combinations (5-FU/CFT and 5-FU/CFP) 48 h and 72 h post-treatment on the metabolic activity of the different cell lines was measured using MTT assay. Results are expressed with respect to their respective control. Each value is the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments. Statistical analysis was performed using one-tailed student t-test. *P < 0.05, P < **0.01, and ***P < 0.001 significant to control untreated cells; ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01, ^###P < 0.001 significant with respect to 5-FU