NESRİN DİLBAZ, RUŞEN DÜNDARÖZ, ZELİHAGÜL DEĞİM, HALİL İBRAHİM AYDIN, METİN DENLİ, VOLKAN BALTACI
Kocatepe Tıp Dergisi - 2001;2(1):79-86
Depression during pregnancy is not uncommon. One of the main concern with psychotropic drugs during pregnancy is teratogenicity. Although fluoxetine is one of the most frequently prescribed antidepressant, its safety in women considering possible toxic effects has not been established well. To investigate the potential toxic effect of long term fluoxetine therapy on the DNA in women, comet assay was performed in peripheral lymphocytes of 25 depressive female patients who has been receiving fluoxetine for at least six months. 25 healthy, drug free female volunteers were selected for the control group. The frequencies of comet scores in the patient group were significantly higher than that of the control group (p-0.01) indicating that DNA damaging effect of fluoxetine in human lymphocytes. Our preliminary data were based on a few subjects and etiological and pathological mechanism remain obscure, further large-scale experimental and clinical studies are needed.
