Overweight and obesity: pharmacotherapeutic considerations

Use of buccal micronucleus assay to determine mutagenicity induced by amfepramone in humans and the protective effects of vitamin C

The abusive use of amfepramone in Brazilian population has grown in recent years. Few studies have been conducted on amphetamine with respect to DNA damage, and there have been no apparent investigations examining the influence of amfepramone on humans. The aim of this study was to determine the possible mutagenic actions of amfepramone on humans using the micronucleus (MN) assay with buccal cells and the effects of supplementation with vitamin C as a potential protective agent. The study included 108 females with 52 as control and 56 taking amfepramone at 120 mg/d for at least the whole previous month. All women were intentionally selected to be nonsmokers and nondrinkers. After 30 d of amfepramone women were given amfepramone plus vitamin C use at 1000 mg/d for another month. Results showed a marked increase in the number of MN in amfepramone users in both basal and differentiated cells, indicating a mutagenic action. After vitamin C supplementation, a significant decrease in the frequency of MN and apoptosis was observed. Evidence indicates that the main mechanism of action of amfepramone in inducing DNA damage occurs through formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), intercalation and topoisomerase binding, attributed to the presence of an N-dialkyl group. In addition, data demonstrated that vitamin C effectively inhibited amfepramone-induced DNA damage.