title: Photoactivated hypericin is not genotoxic.
abstract: The study was designed to test the potential photogenotoxicity of hypericin (HYP) at three different levels: primary DNA damages, gene mutations and chromosome aberrations. Primary genetic changes were detected using the comet assay. The potential mutagenic activity of HYP was assessed using the Ames/Salmonella typhimurium assay. Finally, the ability of photoactivated HYP to induce chromosome aberrations was evaluated by the in vitro mammalian chromosome aberration test and compared to that of non-photoactivated HYP. The results have shown that photoactivated HYP can only induce primary DNA damages (single-strand DNA breaks), acting in a dose-response manner. This activity depended both on HYP concentrations and an intensity of the light energy needed for its photoactivation. However, mutagenic effect of photoactivated HYP evaluated in the Ames assay using three bacterial strains S. typhimurium (TA97, TA98 and TA100) was not confirmed. Moreover, photoactivated HYP in the range of concentrations (0.005-0.01 µg/ml) was not found to be clastogenic against HepG2 cells. Our findings from both the Ames assay and the chromosome aberrations test provide evidence that photoactivated HYP is not genotoxic, which might be of great importance mainly in terms of its use in the photodynamic therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Mlynská dolina B1, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovak Republic. sevcovicova@fns.uniba.sk.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feruszová
authors.forename: Petronela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Imreová
authors.forename: Kristína
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bodnárová
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ševčovičová
authors.forename: Stanislav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kyzek
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chalupa
authors.forename: Eliška
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gálová
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Miadoková
mesh_terms: D000873:Anthracenes; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000502:physiology*; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics / Q000528:radiation effects*; D010569:Perylene / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000528:radiation effects; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000528:radiation effects; D011829:Radiation Dosage
chemical_list: D000873:Anthracenes; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D010569:Perylene; C004965:hypericin