Background: Stress may cause damages to DNA or/and change the ability of the cells to overcome these damages. It may also cause irregularities in the cell cycle and induce abnormal cell divisions through glucocorticoid-dependent functions. The abnormal cell divisions, in turn, lead to chromosomal mal-segregation and aneuploidy. In this study, the effects of the stress hormone, hydrocortisone (HYD), were investigated on the induced chromosomal abnormalities by vinblastine (VIN) during cell cycle in L929 cells.

Methods: This work was performed in winter 2013 at Department of Biology, University of Ferdowsi, Mashhad, Iran. Cultured cells were divided into different groups including control, VIN-treated, HYD treated and VIN+HYD co-treated cells. The induced chromosomal damages were investigated by micronucleus assay in cytokinesis-blocked binucleated cells.

Results: Although HYD by itself did not increase the micronuclei (Mn) frequency, co-treatment of cells with VIN and HYD led to significant increase (P<0.05) in the frequency of Mn in comparison to control and VIN treated groups.

Conclusion: Cells treated with stress hormone are more sensitive to damages induced by VIN. Therefore, stress may not directly result in genetic instability, it can increase the harmful effects associated with other genotoxic agents.