Evaluation of the genotoxic effects of pyrimethamine, an antimalarial drug, in the in vivo mouse

Pyrimethamine is an antimalarial drug and a known teratogenic agent. With this drug, positive and negative results have been reported by various investigators in in vivo and in vitro genotoxicity/mutagenicity assays. In this investigation the genotoxic effects of pyrimethamine (PY) were tested in mice in vivo systems, using the bone marrow micronucleus test (MNT) and the transplacental MN test (TMNT). PY at the highest dose (40 mg/kg) induced statistically significant MN in bone marrow cells at 24 and 48 h. In the transplacental MN test, PY did not induce significant MN in fetal liver or in maternal bone marrow. Teratogenesis Carcinog. Mutagen. 20:65-71, 2000.