Research Article

Genotoxic evaluation of the antimalarial drugs artemisinin and artesunate in human HepG2 cells and effects on CASP3 and SOD1 gene expressions

Published: July 24, 2013
Genet. Mol. Res. 12 (3) : 2517-2527 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4238/2013.July.24.6
Cite this Article:
I. Aquino, M.S.F. Tsuboy, J.C. Marcarini, M.S. Mantovani, F.F. Perazzo, E.L. Maistro (2013). Genotoxic evaluation of the antimalarial drugs artemisinin and artesunate in human HepG2 cells and effects on CASP3 and SOD1 gene expressions. Genet. Mol. Res. 12(3): 2517-2527. https://doi.org/10.4238/2013.July.24.6
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Abstract

The malaria treatment recommended by the World Health Organization involves medicines derived from artemisinin, an active compound extracted from the plant Artemisia annua, and some of its derivatives, such as artesunate. Considering the lack of data regarding the genotoxic effects of these compounds in human cells, the objective of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, and expressions of the CASP3 and SOD1 genes in a cultured human hepatocellular liver carcinoma cell line (HepG2 cells) treated with artemisinin and artesunate. We tested concentrations of 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, and 20 mg/mL of both substances with a resazurin cytotoxicity assay, and the concentrations used in the genotoxicity experiments (2.5, 5, and 10 mg/mL) and gene expression analysis (5 mg/mL) were determined. The results of the comet assay in cells treated with artemisinin and artesunate showed a significant dose-dependent increase (P < 0.001) in the number of cells with DNA damage at all concentrations tested. However, the gene expression analysis revealed no significant change in expression of CASP3 or SOD1. Our data showed that although artemisinin and artesunate exhibited genotoxic effects in cultured HepG2 cells, they did not significantly alter expression of the CASP3 and SOD1 genes at the doses tested.

The malaria treatment recommended by the World Health Organization involves medicines derived from artemisinin, an active compound extracted from the plant Artemisia annua, and some of its derivatives, such as artesunate. Considering the lack of data regarding the genotoxic effects of these compounds in human cells, the objective of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, and expressions of the CASP3 and SOD1 genes in a cultured human hepatocellular liver carcinoma cell line (HepG2 cells) treated with artemisinin and artesunate. We tested concentrations of 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, and 20 mg/mL of both substances with a resazurin cytotoxicity assay, and the concentrations used in the genotoxicity experiments (2.5, 5, and 10 mg/mL) and gene expression analysis (5 mg/mL) were determined. The results of the comet assay in cells treated with artemisinin and artesunate showed a significant dose-dependent increase (P