APPLICATION OF THE SINGLE CELL GEL ELECTROPHORESIS FOR DETECTION OF OXIDATIVE DNA DAMAGE DUE TO LONG TERM EXPOSURE TO SUPRAPHYSIOLOGIC DOSES OF L-THYROXINE

Abstract

Since reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by thyroid hormones may cause lipid and protein oxidation as well as DNA damage, the main aim of this article is to investigate the genotoxic effect (in vivo) of the supraphysiologic doses of L-thyroxinein apolipoprotein E deficient homozygous (ApoE-/-) mice. For this purpose, the method of single-cell gel electrophoresis that allows the detection of DNA damage in individual cell caused by various endogenous and exogenous agents was used. The Student t-test has shown no significant difference between the examined parameters of the thyroxine-treated group compared with untreated control group of animals. The positive control (treated with solution of H2O2) has significantly higher values of the examined parameters compared with the treated and untreated control group of animals. The results confirm that chronic exposure to high doses of thyroxine do not cause damage to the DNA molecule that could be detected by the method of single-cell gel electrophoresis.