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Metronidazole "is genotoxic to human cells"

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  • Metronidazole "is genotoxic to human cells"

    I have questions regarding Metronidazole and other medications for related issues. I am supposed to be taking a vaginal 5 day dose soon and am breastfeeding but have also utilized it in the past while breastfeeding and 3 times during pregnancy. The LactMed website cites 2 sources (below) regarding mutagenicity in humans. I know similar issues have been addressed on here but this is the first time I have seen it directly stated about it actually being toxic to "human cells."

    1) Is metronidazole carcinogenic?Andrés Bendesky, et al. states in the abstract " MTZ is potentially carcinogenic to humans due to the following facts: it is a proven mutagen in bacterial systems, it is genotoxic to human cells and also, it is carcinogenic to animals."
    2) The other citation was for Genotoxicity and carcinogenicity of metronidazole by Dobias, et al. but unfortunately I don't have access to the plethora of contents suggesting genotoxicity.

    Similarly, the pamphlet for Betamethasone says for mutagenicity "It was positive in the in vitro human lymphocyte chromosome aberration assay." I don't know what this means. Does it mean that it has mutagenicity in humans?


    Maybe there are things in daily life that do similar damage that I don't know about or maybe I'm overly sensitive right now because of all the talk with the COVID vaccine creating DNA changes, but I want to ensure to the best of my ability as a mom that what I take for myself is not changing structures in me or my child. I don't know if there are alternatives either. Thank you for any information regarding past and current research about this issue.

    Last edited by tiffanyk; 12-17-2020, 07:29 AM.

  • #2
    Tiffany:

    We've been arguing about the mutagenicity of metronidazole for 30 years and we still do not have sufficient evidence to really prove this, only circumstantial, really poor evidence . This is one of the most commonly used drugs in world and most of us don't think that it really incites cancer development.

    In pediatrics, it is used all the time and has been used in millions of pediatric cases.

    I would not worry about it at all. In my opinion much of the "mutagenicity literature" is poor and risks are inflated to get something published. It's a sad literature.

    Tom Hale Ph.d.

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    • #3
      Thank you. Is that true about the Betamethasone I mentioned, as well.

      The pamphlet for Betamethasone says for mutagenicity "It was positive in the in vitro human lymphocyte chromosome aberration assay." I don't know what this means. Does it mean that it has mutagenicity in humans or only found in a dish?

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      • #4
        tiffanyk:

        There is a weak correlation with craniofacial abnormalities that we've known about for years in "pregnant women", primarily higher rate of cleft lip. But it's so rare that it's hard to say yes or no corticosteroids cause this problem.

        Most Obs are careful about using corticosteroids in pregnant women IF it's not absolutely mandatory.

        Tom Hale Ph.d.

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