Induction of micronuclei by zinc in human leukocytes

摘要

In the present study, we report the results of the capability of zinc chloride for the induction of micronuclei in cultured human leukocytes using cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay. Two concentrations of zinc chloride (1.5 × 10−4 M and 3.0 × 10−4 M) were used to evaluate the potential of this zinc salt to induce micronucleus formation. This effect was compared with positive (mitomycin C treated) and negative controls (no salt added). Our results show a significant (p ≤ 0.001) increase of micronucleated cytokinesis-blocked cells (MNCBs) in zinc-chloride-treated cells compared to the negative control. Induction of MNCBs was not in a dose-dependent manner for zinc chloride concentrations tested. This report is the first to describe the efficiency of cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay to evaluate the genotoxic effects of zinc salt.