Combined Cytogenotoxic Effects of Bee Venom and Bleomycin on Rat Lymphocytes : An In Vitro Study

Abstract EN

This study was carried out to determine the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of bee venom (BV) and/or the chemotherapeutic agent bleomycin (BLM) on healthy isolated rat lymphocytes utilizing morphometric and molecular techniques.

Using the Ficoll-Histopaque density gradient centrifugation technique, lymphocytes were isolated, divided into groups, and subjected to BV and/or BLM at incubation medium concentrations of 10 or 20 μg/mL respectively for 24 and 72 hrs.

An MTT assay and fluorescent microscopy examinations were used to assess the cytotoxic effects.

To determine the predominant type of BV and/or BLM-induced cell death, LDH release assay was employed beside quantitative expression analyses of the apoptosis-related genes (Caspase-3 and Bcl-2).

The genotoxic effects of the tested compounds were evaluated via DNA fragmentation assay.

The results of these assays demonstrated that BV potentiates BLM-induced cytotoxicity through increased LDH release and diminished cell viability.

Nevertheless, BV significantly inhibited the BLM-induced DNA damage.

The results verify that BV significantly attenuates the genotoxic effects of BLM on noncancerous isolated rat lymphocytes but does not diminish BLM cytotoxicity.