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Cytogenetic genotoxicity of amoxicillin

Erman Salih Istifli1, Mehmet Topaktaş

  • 1Department of Biology, Institute of Basic and Applied Sciences, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey. esistifli@cu.edu.tr

Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis
|October 1, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Amoxicillin (AMO) did not show genotoxic effects in human blood cells during in vitro testing. This antibiotic is unlikely to pose a genotoxic risk to patients undergoing bacterial infection treatment.

Area of Science:

  • Toxicology
  • Genetics
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Amoxicillin (AMO) is a widely used antibiotic for bacterial infections.
  • Assessing the genotoxic potential of pharmaceuticals is crucial for patient safety.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the in vitro genotoxicity of Amoxicillin (AMO) in human peripheral blood lymphocytes.
  • To determine if AMO induces chromosomal aberrations, sister chromatid exchanges, or micronuclei formation.

Main Methods:

  • In vitro tests including sister chromatid exchange (SCE), chromosomal aberration (CA), and micronucleus (MN) assays were performed.
  • Human peripheral blood lymphocytes were exposed to AMO (400–1,000 microg/ml) with and without metabolic activation (S9 mix).
  • Proliferation index (PI) and mitotic index (MI) were assessed to evaluate cytotoxicity.

Main Results:

  • Amoxicillin (AMO) did not induce SCEs or CAs in lymphocytes, with or without S9 mix.
  • AMO reduced the proliferation index (PI) concentration-dependently in the absence of S9 mix.
  • No induction of micronuclei (MN) or decrease in nuclear division index was observed with AMO treatment.

Conclusions:

  • Amoxicillin (AMO) demonstrated no genotoxic activity in human peripheral blood lymphocytes under the tested conditions.
  • The antibiotic did not induce chromosomal damage or mutations in vitro.
  • Current findings suggest Amoxicillin (AMO) does not present a genotoxic risk for patients.

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