In Vitro Assessment of Endocrine Disrupting Potential of Pharmaceuticals
Project no. 21389 · Status: Kapanmış · 2019
Summary
Endocrine system regulates development of the growth and functions of the brain, nervous system and reproductive system as well as all biological processes that take place in the body such as metabolism and blood sugar levels. Any disturbance in endocrine system affects many parts of the body. Endocrine disruptors (EDs) are exogenous substances or mixtures that alter function of endocrine system and consequently cause adverse health effects in an intact organism, or subpopulation. Pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of various diseases can have known/unknown endocrine disrupting effects. Endocrine disrupting effects, including estrogenic/antiestrogenic effects, are sometimes targeted for therapeutic purposes, however sometimes these effects of drugs appear as adverse effects. In the present thesis, the potential endocrine disrupting effect of highly consumed active molecules, paracetamol and indomethacine, has been investigated. For this purpose, an in vitro E-Screen experiment was conducted. The principle of the experiment is based on the proliferation of estrogen dependent breast cancer cells in the presence of the tested substance. As a result, paracetamol and indomethacine did not show any estrogenic effects at any of the tested concentrations compared to 17ß-estradiol, the positive control. On the other hand both molecules were shown to significantly reduce cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. This effect of the compounds can either result from their antiestrogenic effect or their cytotoxicity at higher concentrations. Therefore second step of E-Screen assay will be performed in order to investigate their antiestrogenic potential.