Chromosomal aberrations, sister chromatid exchanges and micronuclei induced by pentoxifylline in in vitro cultivated Chinese hamster cells (V79) and human blood lymphocytes

Pentoxifylline (PTX) is a methylxanthine widely used in clinical practice. The mechanism of PTX effects on cellular and molecular level have not been fully explained yet. The present study was carried out to investigate the c ytogenetic effect of this drug using cultured Chinese hamster V79 cells and human blood lymphocytes in vitro. The occurrence of chromosomal aberration s (CA), sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) and micronuclei (MN) was observed after the treatment of cells by different concentrations (0.002-2.0 mg/ml) of PTX. In exposed V79 cells and lymphocytes as well, the dose-dependent in creases of the above mentioned cytogenetic endpoints were found. The statis tically significant increase has appeared at lower PTX concentrations in hu man lymphocytes than in V79 cells in all the investigated parameters. Our results show that, the applied concentrations of PTX has the clastogeni c effect on in vitro cultured V79 cells and human lymphocytes. These findin gs are notable because of the frequent use of this drug and may serve as pr eliminary data to the further detailed examination of PTX action on molecul ar level. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.