Author(s)

Patrycja Chylinska-Wrzos, Ewelina Wawryk-Gawda, Marta Lis-Sochocka, Marian Jedrych, Miroslaw Lancut, Kamila Bulak, Joanna Leszcz-Stankiewicz, Barbara Jodlowska-Jedrych

Dental and Implant Center, Lublin, Poland.
Department of Histology and Embryology with Experimental Cytology Unit, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
Department of Mathematics and Biostatistics, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.

Purpose: This study was aimed to assess the expression of caspase 8 and caspase 9 in the epidermis, during apoptosis after cladribine administration. Materials and Methods: The experiment was carried on 10 Wistar rats. The animals were placed into 2 groups: control group and experimental group. Animals in the control group, in addition to standard feed and water, were injected with a physiological salt in a quantity corresponding to the drug dosage, over the course of the experiment. The experimental group animals were treated with cladribine in the dose of 0.07 mg/kg/24h, for 6 consecutive days in the morning, in 3 cycles with a 5-week gap in administering the drug. After the completion of the experiment, the animals were decapitated, and full thickness slices of skin were taken from all the rats for immunohisto- chemical study. The results of the statistical surveys were analysed in Statistica 10.0. The difference in intensity of expression of caspase 9 and caspase 8 in the groups were investigated using the Chiquadrat test. Statistical significance was considered at p < 0.05. Results: The statistical analysis found significant correlation in expression of caspase 9 between examined groups (p < 0.0001). There were no statistical relationships in the presence of the expression of caspase 8 between examined groups (p = 0.0526). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that mechanism of apoptosis in the rats’ epidermis, induced by cladribine given in the scheme used in the treatment of MS in humans, involves caspase 9 activity. This means that 2-CdA initiates the intrinsic apoptosis pathway.

Cladribine; Apoptosis; Caspase 8; Caspase 9; Epidermis

Chylinska-Wrzos, P. , Wawryk-Gawda, E. , Lis-Sochocka, M. , Jedrych, M. , Lancut, M. , Bulak, K. , Leszcz-Stankiewicz, J. and Jodlowska-Jedrych, B. (2013) The intrinsic or the extrinsic pathways of apoptosis in the epidermis after cladribine application?. Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering, 6, 265-272. doi: 10.4236/jbise.2013.63033.