Induction effects of sulfur dioxide inhalation on chromosomal aberrations in mouse bone marrow cells / 中华预防医学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the induction effects of sulfur dioxide (SO(2)) inhalation on chromosomal aberrations (CA) in mouse bone marrow cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The mice were treated with SO(2) for 4 h/day x 7 days at various concentrations of SO(2), then mitotic indices and CA in the bone marrow cells were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>SO(2) increase the frequencies of CA and aberrant cells in mouse bone marrow cells in dose-dependent manner. The frequencies (%) of the aberrant cells in mouse bone marrow cells induced by SO(2) at concentrations of 0, 14, 28, 56 and 84 mg/m(3) were 1.81, 3.00, 3.58, 4.26 and 4.86, respectively. SO(2) at low concentrations induced only chromatid-type CA, but at high concentrations it induced both chromatid-type and chromosome-type CA. SO(2) inhalation decreased the mitotic indices of the bone marrow cells.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>SO(2) inhalation may inhibit mitoses and increase CA frequencies of the bone marrow cells; therefore, it is a clastogenetic and genotoxic agent. It implies that long time exposure of SO(2) pollutant at low concentration in air may be a potential risk to induce damage of cytogenetic material in humans.</p>