Assessment of Genotoxicity of Levosimendan in Human Cultured Lymphocytes

Background and Objective: Levosimendan is a positive inotropic and a vasodilator agent with pleotropic characteristics that include antioxidation, anti-inflammation and smooth muscle vasodilation. Methods: In this study, the effects of levosimendan (0, 0.1, 1, 10, and 20 mu g/ml) on oxidative DNA damage and sister-chromatid exchanges (SCEs) were evaluated in human cultured lymphocytes. Results: The results showed that levosimendan increased the frequency of SCEs in all examined concentrations (P<0.01) except for 0.1 mu g/ml. On the other hand, levosimendan did not induce oxidative DNA damage as measured by the 8-OHdG biomarker (P > 0.05). In addition, neither mitotic arrest nor proliferation index was affected by levosimendan at all examined doses (P > 0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, levosimendan might be associated with increases in sister-chromatid exchanges in cultured human lymphocytes. In vivo studies are required to confirm the present findings.