Genotoxic Effect in Autoimmune Diseases Evaluated by the Micronucleus Test Assay: Our Experience and Literature Review

Abstract EN

Autoimmune diseases (AD) are classified into organ-specific, systemic, and mixed; all forms of AD share a high risk for cancer development.

In AD a destructive immune response induced by autoreactive lymphocytes is started and continues with the production of autoantibodies against different targets; furthermore apoptosis failure and loss of balance in oxidative stress as a consequence of local or systemic inflammation are common features seen in AD as well.

Micronucleus (MN) assay can be performed in order to evaluate loss of genetic material in a clear, accurate, fast, simple, and minimally invasive test.

The MN formation in the cytoplasm of cells that have undergone proliferation is a consequence of DNA fragmentation during mitosis and the appearance of small additional nuclei during interphase.

The MN test, widely accepted for in vitro and in vivo genotoxicity research, provides a sensitive marker of genomic damage associated to diverse conditions.

In here, we present a review of our work and other published papers concerning genotoxic effect in AD, identified by means of the MN assay, with the aim of proposing this tool as a possible early biomarker for genotoxic damage, which is a consequence of disease progression.

Additionally this biomarker could be used for follow-up, to asses genome damage associated to therapies.