High copper concentrations produce genotoxicity and cytotoxicity in bovine cumulus cells

ANCHORDOQUY, JUAN MATEO; PASCUA, ANA M; NIKOLOFF, NOELIA; ANCHORDOQUY, JUAN PATRICIO; FURNUS, CECILIA C

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH

SPRINGER HEIDELBERG

Año: 2017 vol. 24 p. 1 - 9

0944-1344

The aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of high copper (Cu) concentrations on bovine cumulus cells (CC) cultured in vitro. We evaluated the effect of 0, 120, 240 and 360 µg/dL Cu added to in vitro maturation (IVM) medium on CC cell viability assessed by the trypan blue (TB)-fluorescein diacetate (FDA) and 3-(4,5-Dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays, apoptosis and DNA damage. Differences in cell viability assessed by TB-FDA were not significant among CC treated with 0, 120, 240, and 360 μg/dL Cu. However, mitochondrial activity assessed by MTT was lower in CC cultured with 120, 240, and 360 µg/dL Cu as compared with the control (p < 0.01). Percentages of apoptotic cells were higher when CC were treated with 120, 240 and 360 µg/dL Cu (p < 0.05) due to higher frequencies of late apoptotic cells (p < 0.05). The frequency of live cells diminished in a dose-dependent manner when Cu was added to the culture medium. Whereas genetic damage index (GDI) increased significantly in CC cultured in the presence of 240 and 360 μg/dL Cu (p ˂0.05), DNA damage increased at all Cu concentrations tested (p ˂0.05). These results indicate that Cu induces cytotoxic and genotoxic effects in bovine CC.