[Genotoxic effect of the antitumor agent vincristine sulfate on human peripheral blood lymphocytes in vitro].

In consideration of high toxicity of cytostatic drugs and their potential mutagenic activity, this work studies the genotoxic effects of the antitumour drug Vincristine Sulfate. We analyzed preparations of human peripheral blood lymphocytes that have been exposed to different concentrations of Vincristine Sulfate in vitro. We have established that this cytostatic stimulates mitotic activity of lymphocytes at smaller concentrations (0.05 and 0.1 microgram/ml), but at higher concentration (0.5, 1.0 and 20.0 micrograms/ml) decreases proliferation of lymphocytes at significant level. It causes the appearance of irregular anaphase statuses in form of irregular distribution of chromosomes. Vincristine induces of appearance of C-mitosis that are a result of cytostatic activity of Vincristine Sulfate that blocks mitosis with prometaphase arrest. Cytostatic activity of Vincristine manifests itself as the destruction of interphase nuclei, the destruction of prophase nuclei with the destruction of chromosome mass and as the presence of chromosome material that is cut up in small pieces (chromosome pulverization). Vincristine interferes with the function of microtubules that are responsible for this mitosis and cytokinesis, and therefore influences itself on the formation of binucleated and multinucleated cells. Cytogenetic studies indicate that Vincristine induces the presence of micronuclei in lymphocyte's cells, while a higher concentration of Vincristine induces the presence of a large number of micronuclei at lymphocyte called multimicronuclei. Numerical chromosome aberrations are aneuploidy and poluploidy.