Genotoxicity of 1, 4- Dioxane in Mouse Bone Marrow: I. Effect on the Micronucleus Assay

(Iman Abbas and Ola Musa Hassan Al)

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Abstract

The genotoxicity of 1,4 dioxane (DX), was studied in Swiss albino male mice using the bone marrow micronucleus assay. Three doses of DX (0.57, 2.85 and 5.7 mg/kg body weight ) were used in three different groups, (10 animals/group). Each animal received two intraperitoneal injections (i.p) of its respective dose level on two consecutive days and sacrificed 6 hours after the second injection. A control group of mice received water and the animals were subjected to the same procedure as the experimental groups. Bone marrow samples were obtained from the femurs of mice and processed for examination of the formation of micronuclei in polychromatic erythrocytes (PCEs). The results showed that treatment with large doses of DX caused a significant increase in the frequency of micronuclei (MN) in PCEs. The higher doses of 2.85 and 5.7 mg./kg were found to induce micronuclei at incidences of 12.35 and 13.9, respectively compared with 4.9 micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MNPCEs) /1000 PCEs for the control. There is no apparent dose response relationship. Moreover, with these higher doses there was also a notable increase in the ratio of PCEs/normochromatic erythrocytes (NCEs) in the DX treated groups (1.26-1.39 respectively) compared with 0.89 for the control group which suggests a delayed maturation of the erythrocytes. The results demonstrate a possible genotoxic effect of Dioxane using the micronucleus assay.
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