Abstract
HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) are widely used in the therapy of atherosclerosis and have a number of pleiotropic effects, including DNA repair regulation. We studied the cytogenetic damage and the expression of DNA repair genes (DDB1, ERCC4, and ERCC5) in human coronary artery (HCAEC) and internal thoracic artery endothelial cells (HITAEC) in vitro exposed to mitomycin C (MMC) (positive control), MMC and atorvastatin (MMC+Atv), MMC followed by atorvastatin treatment (MMC/Atv) and 0.9% NaCl (negative control). MMC/Atv treated HCAEC were characterized by significantly decreased micronuclei (MN) frequency compared to the MMC+Atv group and increased nucleoplasmic bridges (NPBs) frequency compared to both MMC+Atv treated cells and positive control; DDB1, ERCC4, and ERCC5 genes were upregulated in MMC+Atv and MMC/Atv treated HCAEC in comparison with the positive control. MMC+Atv treated HITAEC were characterized by reduced MN frequency compared to positive control and decreased NPBs frequency in comparison with both the positive control and MMC/Atv group. Nuclear buds (NBUDs) frequency was significantly lower in MMC/Atv treated cells than in the positive control. The DDB1 gene was downregulated in the MMC+Atv group compared to the positive control, and the ERCC5 gene was upregulated in MMC/Atv group compared to both the positive control and MMC+Atv group. We propose that atorvastatin can modulate the DNA damage repair response in primary human endothelial cells exposed to MMC in a cell line- and incubation scheme-dependent manner that can be extremely important for understanding the fundamental aspects of pleoitropic action of atorvastatin and can also be used to correct the therapy of patients with atherosclerosis characterized by a high genotoxic load.