Estudo dos efeitos antimutagênico e recombinogênico de um imunoterápico em Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

The number of cancer-related deaths worldwide continues to rise, demanding the development of new treatment strategies. Immunotherapy has shown promising results, particularly due to its potential to induce fewer adverse effects on patients. The immunotherapeutic agent GcMAF, which activates macrophages, has shown some elucidated effects. However, there is currently a lack of dedicated studies investigating its potential impact on DNA in Drosophila melanogaster. The present study assessed the mutagenic and/or recombinogenic effects of GcMAF using the Somatic Mutation and Recombination Test (SMART) in D. melanogaster. GcMAF (25 pg/ml, 50 pg/ml, 100 pg/ml) was evaluated under four different experimental conditions: i) GcMAF alone; ii) GcMAF combined with Doxorubicin (DXR - 0.4 mM); iii) GcMAF combined with Vitamin D (VD - 1 mM); and iv) GcMAF combined with DXR and VD. VD and DXR were also individually evaluated as control parameters. The test assessed the direct damages of the treatments through the standard cross (ST) obtained by mating flr3 females with mwh males. GcMAF decreased the recombinogenic action of DXR by 18.16%, 12.87%, and 19.11% at the respective concentrations of 25 pg/ml, 50 pg/ml, and 100 pg/ml. In the treatment with the combination of GcMAF with DXR and VD, at the highest concentration of GcMAF, there was a significant decrease in the total number of spots (17.67%). Both GcMAF alone and GcMAF combined with VD did not exhibit mutagenic and/or recombinogenic effects. Therefore, we can suggest that GcMAF modulates the mutagenic/recombinogenic effects of DXR, reducing the expression of the mutant phenotype evaluated by the SMART test. These results are promising, as cancer patients are often treated with combined therapeutic regimens. However, further experimental investigations are needed to evaluate the underlying mechanisms of GcMAF's modulatory effect on DXR.