Effect of acute exposure in swiss mice (Mus musculus) to a fibrinolytic protease produced by Mucor subtilissimus UCP 1262: An histomorphometric, genotoxic and cytological approach.

The fibrinolytic enzyme produced by Mucor subtilissimus UCP 1262 was obtained by solid fermentation and purified by ion exchange chromatography using DEAE-Sephadex A50. The enzyme toxicity was evaluated using mammalian cell lineages: HEK-293, J774.A1, Sarcoma-180 and PBMCs which appeared to be viable at a level of 80%. The biochemical parameters of the mice treated with an acute dose of enzyme (2000 mg/mL) identified alterations of AST and ALT and the histomorphometric analysis of the liver showed a loss of endothelial cells (P < 0.001). However, these changes are considered minimal to affirm that there was a significant degree of hepatotoxicity. The comet assay and the micronucleus test did not identify damage in the DNA of the erythrocytes of the animals treated. The protease did not degrade the Aα and Bβ chains of human and bovine fibrinogens, thus indicating that it does not act as anticoagulant, but rather as a fibrinolytic agent. The assay performed to assess blood biocompatibility shows that at dose of 0.3-5 mg/mL the hemolytic grade is considered insignificant. Moreover, the enzyme did not prolong bleeding time in mice when dosed with 1 mg/kg. These results indicate that this enzyme produced is a potential competitor for developing novel antithrombotic drugs.