Abstract

Objective: To assess the genotoxic potential of the antidepressant drug clomipramine hydrochloride (CH) through different mutagenic end points. Methods: The study included chromosomal aberration analysis of bone marrow cells, primary spermatocytes, morphological sperm abnormalities and histopathological changes of liver cells using both light and electron microscopy. Three doses (0.195, 0.26 and 0.65 mg/20 g body weight) were tested. Each dose was given orally to mice for different periods of time (the doses are equivalent to the recommended daily intake doses in man). Results: The tested doses of CH applied for 5 and 30 days increased the frequencies of chromosomal aberrations with dose and time dependant manner. The two high doses, 0.26 and 0.65 mg/20 g body weight revealed significant effect in comparison to the control. Dose -dependent increase in morphological sperm abnormalities and decrease in sperm count were recorded after CH treatment for 5 consecutive days. Pathological changes in liver tissue reached to sever damage were recorded after treatment with the medium and the high doses for 30 days. Ultrastructural examination showed that the low dose had little differences in liver histological architecture as compared to the control group, while prominent pathological changes in nuclei as well as dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum were observed in mice treated with the medium or the high dose of the drug. Conclusions: It is concluded that CH has genotoxic effect in somatic and germ cells of mice as well as damaging effect on liver tissue after treatment with the medium and the high doses. However, the usage of low dose (especially for short time, 5 days) can be utilized as a safe therapeutic dose.

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