GENOTOXICITY OF VANADIUM PENTOXIDE IN CHINESE-HAMSTER V79 CELLS

Workers in many mining and manufacturing industries are potentially ex posed to vanadium. Inhalation of dust containing vanadium pentoxide (V 2O5), a pentavalent compound of vanadium, has been reported to cause l ung diseases. Information related to the genotoxicity and potential ca rcinogenicity of V2O5, however, is still limited. In this study, the e ffect of V2O5 on mitosis, sister-chromatid exchange (SCE), micronucleu s formation (MN), and gene mutation in Chinese hamster V79 cells was d etermined. Cells were treated with varying concentrations of V2O5 for 24 h. The results showed that no significant increases in the frequenc ies of SCE or gene mutation occurred in V2O5-treated cultures. However , dose-related increases were noted for micronucleated cells in cultur es exposed to this compound, and the number of binucleated cells in th e presence of cytochalasin B was found to decrease with increasing V2O 5 concentrations. Since the micronucleated cells induced by V2O5 conta ined kinetochore-positive micronuclei, their induction appears to be d ue to damage to the spindle apparatus. These results indicate that V2O 5 is cytotoxic and aneuploidogenic to V79 cells.