Micronuclei assay and FISH analysis in human lymphocytes treated with six metal salts

The capability of some metal compounds For inducing micronuclei (MN) in hum an lymphocytes was studied. In this investigation, Al (III), Cd (II), Hg (I I), Sb (V), Te (VI), and TI (I) saris were considered. The FISH (fluorescen ce in situ hybridization) technique with a centromeric probe was coupled wi th the MN assay in binucleated cells in order to detect both centromere-pos itive MN (C + MN) due to malsegregation phenomena and centromere-negative M N (C- MN) due to chromosome breakage. The blood of two young nonsmoking mal e donors was employed For all experiments. In both donors, all the tested m etal compounds, with the exception of TI,SO,, showed a statistically signif icant increase of MN compared to controls, at least at one dose. FISH analy sis revealed an increase in the Fraction of C+ MN For Al, Cd, and Hg compou nds, and of C- MN For the Sb salt; however, this was not a statistically si gnificant increase. A different efficiency was observed For the different m etal compounds, in particular, KSbO3 and CH3HgCl, which were highly genotox ic, whereas the others showed minimal effects. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.