In Vitro Cytogenotoxic Profile and In Silico Molecular Docking Analysis of Levetiracetam in SH-SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cell Line

ABSTRACT Objective: Levetiracetam (LEV) is an antiepileptic drug (AED) commonly used to control epilepsy seizure activity. There are studies elucidating the potential risks of LEV in vitro, in vivo or in the treatment of different diseases depending on the amelioration of damage at the protein level or cytogenotoxicity. The aim of our study was to determine the in vitro cytogenotoxic effects of LEV and its molecular mechanism of action by in silico analysis. Materials and Methods: SH-SY5Y cell line was cultured under standard conditions (37°C, 5% CO₂). CCK-8 kit was used to determine the cytotoxic effect. Genotoxicity potential was elucidated by Comet assay. Molecular mechanism of action was proposed by in silico molecular docking analysis. Results: The cytotoxic effect of LEV was observed only at the lowest dose (1 µM). While the rate of damaged cells did not change in the Comet assay, there was a statistical difference in the genetic damage index. In silico results showed that the binding affinity of LEV to BDNA was weakly strong while it was strong to DNAPolβ. Conclusion: LEV did not show cytotoxic effect (except the lowest dose) on SH-SY5Y cell line but it was found to have genotoxic effect.