In this study the clastogenic effect of pyrimethamine (Daraprim), a folic acid antagonist used for the treatment of toxoplasmosis and malaria on human chromosomes, was investigated. Pyrimethamine was added to in vitro lymphocyte cultures at six different concentrations: 0.05 (normal therapeutic dose), 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.6 mg/ml. No proliferation was observed in any of the cultures containing 1.6 mg/ml pyrimethamine. The results of the cytogenetic evaluations show that the frequency of breaks and gaps increase significantly in dose-dependent manner. Thus, pyrimethamine has a clastogenic effect on human chromosomes.
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Abbreviations
- PHAM:
-
Phytohemagglutinin M
- M:
-
Metaphase
- G:
-
Gap
- B:
-
break
- R:
-
Rearrangement
- NCA:
-
Number Chromosome Abnormalities
- FA:
-
Folic acid
- SCE:
-
Sister Chromatid Exchange
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Egeli, Ü., Erdogan, G. The Clastogenic effect of Pyrimethamine (Daraprim) on human chromosomes in lymphocyte cultures. Cell Biol Toxicol 7, 347–356 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00124070
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00124070