Impact of in vivo and in vitro exposure to 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, etoposide and vincristine sulphate on DNA damage in haemocytes of freshwater mussels Unio pictorum and Unio tumidus

Abstract

The impact of 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), Cisplatin (CP), Etoposide (Eto) and Vincristine sulphate (Vin) on DNA damage level was studied in vivo and in vitro on haemocytes of freshwater mussels Unio pictorum and U. tumidus using alkaline comet assay. For in vitro experiments, two different approaches were applied: i) isolated haemocytes were treated for 30 min in physiologial solution, ii) primary culture of haemocytes was treated for 22h. For in vivo experiments, mussels were exposed in static system for 72h. CdCl2 induced significant increase in DNA damage in vitro and in vivo. Treatments in vivo with 5-FU, Eto and Vin resulted in significant increase of DNA damage. Genotoxic potential was also detected in vitro for Vin after 30 min of exposure, and Eto after 22h. CP did not induced increase of DNA damage in vivo or in vitro, but post treatment with hydrogen peroxide indicated existence of DNA crosslinks. Lack of genotoxic effects of cytostatics in isolated haemocytes can be attributed to short period of exposure (30 min), while the lack of the effects in primary cultures can be assigned to the mechanisms of action of these drugs. This research has received funding from the European Community's FP7/2007-2013 agreement n° 265264.