Effects of derivatives of sulfur dioxide on micronuclei formation in mouse bone marrow cells in vivo

摘要

Sulfur dioxide (SO_2) is a common air pollutant. Inhaled SO_2 is hydrated to produce sulfurous acid in the respiratory tract, which subsequently dissociates to form its derivatives-bisulfite and sulfite (1:3 M/M, in neutral fluid). The derivatives can be absorbed in blood or other body fluids (Shapiro, 1977). Several studies have shown that the frequencies of chromosomal aberrations (CA), sister chromatid exchanges (SCE), and micronuclei (MN) in peripheral blood lymphocytes from workers chronicallyexposed to SO_2 in factories were higher than the controls (Schneider and Kalkins 1970; Beckman and Nordenson 1986; Meng and Zhang 1990a,b; Yadav and Kaushik 1996). Recent studies have confirmed that the SO2 derivatives (bisulfite and sulfite) induce CA, SCE and MN in cultured human blood lymphocytes in vitro, and that these increases occur in a dose-dependent manner (Meng and Zhang 1992). The detection of MN frequency in polychromatic erythrocytes (PCE) of mouse bone marrow as well as in peripheral blood lymphocytes is a very sensitive index of damage produced by ionizing radiation (Jenssen and Ramel 1976; Chaubey et al. 1978; Morales-Ramirez et al. 1994; Abrasson-Zetterberg et al. 1995) and by chemical mutagens (Mavournin et al. 1990). In the present study, we evaluated SO_2 derivatives (sodium bisulfite and sodium sulfite) for their ability to induce MN in PCE cells of mouse bone marrow in vivo, and we also tested SO_2 derivatives for their potential to inhibit or enhance MN formation induced by mutagens cyclophosphamide (CP) or mitomycin C (MMC) in the mouse PCE cells in vivo.