Biology and Medicine

Abstract

Clastogenic effects of the anticancer drug Epirubicin on mouse bone marrow cells

RS Pandit, RC Choudhury

Epirubicin, a semi-synthetic anthracycline antibiotic, is widely prescribed singly or in combination therapy for the treatment of various types of cancers. However, the reported occurrence of second malignancy in epirubicin pretreated cancer survivors has necessitated its cytogenotoxicity testing. Therefore, the clastogenic potential of epirubicin was assessed here from bone marrow cells of Swiss mice after single intraperitoneal administration of the drug. Each of the three tested doses of epirubicin (2, 4 and 6 mg kg-1 b. w.) induced significantly high percentages (p ≤ 0.01) of aberrant metaphases and chromosomal aberrations (excluding gaps) at 24 h post-treatment and significant increase (p ≤ 0.05) in the frequency of micronucleus in polychromatic erythrocytes at 30 h post-treatment. Thus, epirubicin was highly clastogenic to bone marrow cells of Swiss mice. Its interference in the activity of topoisomeraseII and its free radical generation potential were attributed to its clastogenicity. Such clastogenic effects of epirubicin might have been the cause of recurrence of second malignancy in post-chemotherapeutic cancer survivors.