CYTOGENETICAL AND MOLECULAR STUDIES ON THE EFFECTS OF TWO ANTIEPILEPTIC DRUGS ON MALE ALBINO MICE

Abstract

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder attacks a considerable number of human populations without discriminations of age, gender or race. It appears as unprovoked and unpredictable seizures episodes which decreases the life quality of epileptic patients. It is also a long life curable disease. It either focal epilepsy occurs as a result of disorder in some cerebral neurons, and effectively treated with depakine, or which general epilepsy extends to all cerebral neurons effectively treated with epanutin. The present investigation deals with the genotoxic effects of depakine drug and/or epanutin drug on bone marrow chromosomes, DNA content and histological structure of liver of male albino mice Mus musculus. A total number of sixty-five CD-1 male mice (16-17 weeks old and 26-30 g) were used. They were divided into thirteen groups. The first group consists of 5 mice and served as control. while 2nd and 8th groups were injected daily with depakine 25 mg/kg b.wt. for one and two weeks respectively. The 3rd and 9th groups were injected daily with depakine 50 mg/kg b.wt. for one and two weeks respectively. The 4th and 10th groups were injected daily with epanutin 3 mg/kg b.wt. for one and two weeks respectively. The 5th and 11th groups were injected daily with epanutin 6 mg/kg b.wt. for one and two weeks respectively. The 6th and 12th groups were injected daily with (depakine 25 + epanutin 3) mg/kg b.wt. for one and two weeks respectively. The 7th and 13th groups were injected daily with (depakine 50 + epanutin 6) mg/kg b.wt. for one and two weeks respectively. All animals were injected in intraperitoneal cavity and samples were collected via sacrificing. Treatment with depakine and/or epanutin induced structural and numerical chromosomal aberrations on bone marrow, and these aberrations were increased by dose and time in the main groups. Structural aberrations in groups that were treated with depakine (25 or 50) mg/kg b.wt. were centromeric attenuation, ring, centric fusion, fragment, deletion, chromatid gap and numerical aberrations like polyploidy. Statistical analysis of depakine treated groups 25mg/kg b.wt. for one and two weeks showed significant increase (P < 0.005) in centromeric attenuation, ring and centric fusion in groups. It showed high significant increase (P < 0.001) in the same aberrations after the treatment with depakine 50mg/kg b.wt. for one and two weeks compared to control group.