Induction of chromosome aberrations and sister chromatid exchange in mouse bone-marrow by the insecticide dursban

ABSTRACT

The ability of the insecticide "Dursban" to induce chromosomal aberrations and sister chromatid exchange was tested in mouse bone marrow. Mice were intraperitoneally injected with the dose 4 m kg [-1] body wt. of the insecticide dissolved in 0.1 DMSO. Samples were taken 6, 24 and 48 hours after intraperitoneal injection. The results indicated that "Dursban" at the tested doses is a potent inducer of chromosome aberrations in mouse bone marrow. The percentage of chromosomal aberrations increased by increasing the time of treatment and reached its maximum 24 hours following intraperitoneal injection, where it reached 25.5 +/- 0.95. The aberrations induced were chromatid and chromosome gaps, fragments, breaks and deletions. The doses 10, 20 and 25 mg kg [-1] body wt. of the insecticide caused a significant and dose dependent increase in the frequency of sister chromatid exchange in mouse bone marrow cells. It reached 9.13 +/- 0.27 per cell after treatment with the highest tested does of "Dursban" compared with 4.52 +/- 0.42 per cell in the solvent. This indicates that "Dursban" is a weak inducer of sister chromatid exchange in mouse bone marrow