Chronic ethanol consumption in mice does not induce DNA damage in somatic or germ cells, evaluated by the bone marrow micronucleous assay and the dominant lethal mutation assay

Abstract

Although alcohol is known to be a carcinogen for humans, ethanol-genotoxicity studies are incomplete. Ethanol seems not to be a bacterial mutagen, but the results are confl icting in rodent assays. We investigate the genotoxicity in the bone marrow micronucleus (MN) test and in the dominant lethal mutation (DLM) assay using two long-term ethanol exposure protocols. In the MN test, mice consumed three doses (5, 10 and 15% v/v) for 32 weeks. MN induction was compared to two control groups of 5-and 38-week-old mice (the ages of the treated mice when the treatment was initiated and when they were killed, respectively). For the three groups treated with ethanol there was no signifi cant increase in MN induction as compared to the fi rst control group, but observed MN frequencies were signifi cantly lower than in the 38-week-old control group. This suggests a protective effect against genotoxic damage caused by aging, probably due to ethanol action as a hydroxyl radical scavenger. In the DLM assay, male mice drank ethanol at 15% or 30% (v/v) for 20 weeks. In both groups the number of dead implants was similar to the control, but there was a signifi cant reduction in total implants, indicating a pre-implantation loss.

Dual Anti-/Prooxidant Behaviors of Flavonoids Pertaining to Cu(II)-Catalyzed Tyrosine Nitration of the Insulin Receptor Kinase Domain in an Antidiabetic Study

“…In this regard, all of the subsequent experiments were performed with 6 h of incubation. Next, we treated KK-1/Cu 2+ /H 2 O 2 /NO 2 – with ethanol, which is an effective hydroxyl radical ( • OH) scavenger . A significant decrease in the levels of nitrated KK-1 was observed (Figure B), which suggested a mediated role of • OH production in Cu 2+ -induced tyrosine nitration.…”

Assessment of buccal mucosa genotoxicity in insecticide-exposed urban fumigators in Cali, Colombia

“…While biological evidence of genotoxicity by alcohol consumption is inconsistent [23,24]. In vivo studies performed in mice and rats chronically and sub-chronically [25,26] treated with ethanol showed contrasting results in the frequency of MN, and studies in humans have shown that chronic alcohol consumption or in combination with smoking are related to higher MN frequency [24,27]. In this study, as was mentioned, most of the subjects had low consumption of alcohol without differences between groups.…”

Development of a Reference Method and Materials for Quantitative Measurement of UV-Induced DNA Damage in Mammalian Cells: Comparison of Comet Assay and Cell Viability

“…Some of these assays involve the measurement of structural changes to the DNA bases to form lesions that can be detected by chromatographic methods [13,18,19]. Other methods include measurement of DNA strand breakage in whole cells using the single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay) [20], the micronucleus assay [21], and the measurement of DNA fragmentation in isolated DNA using capillary or gel electrophoresis [22][23][24]. Application of DNA damage diagnostic tests is rapidly growing, in particular for ovarian, prostate, and skin cancers; environmental monitoring; chronic and degenerative diseases; and male infertility [25,26].…”