Genotoxic effect of non-lethal concentrations of minocycline in human glial cell culture

Abstract

Minocycline has been proposed as a neuroprotective agent with pleiotropic effects on several experimental models of neurodegenerative diseases, including microglial inhibition. However, although most studies have focused on the central actions of minocycline in affecting microglial functions, other central nervous system (CNS) cell types may also be affected by this drug toxicity. Hence, considering that glial cells play a pivotal role on CNS physiology and are the main responsible for neuronal integrity, a comprehensive investigation on the effects of minocycline treatment on human glial cells is mandatory before translational studies to afford neuroprotection in humans. Therefore, we explored the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of minocycline at different concentrations in glial cells using an in vitro model. To achieve this, U87 glial cell were exposed to 10–50 μg/mL for 24 h. After exposure, cell viability, general metabolic status and genotoxic assays were performed. No changes were observed in cell viability, however, the general metabolic status decreased over 20 μg/mL. In addition, although no chromossome aberrations were observed, evidences of genotoxicity, such as increase on micronucleus, buds and bridges, were observed from 10 μg/mL. These results suggest that minocycline may induce genotoxic effects even at concentrations considered previously safe and should be used with caution in translational studies.