Chromosomal aberrations, sister chromatid exchanges and high frequency cells in young patients with neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1)

Chromosomal aberrations (CAs), sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) and high f requency cells (HFCs) have been assessed in peripheral blood lymphocytes of 10 neurofibromatosis (NF1) patients and 10 healthy controls. In both groups, the spontaneous rates and the induced (bleomycin for CA and MMC for SCE) frequencies were analyzed. No differences between cells from NF1 patients and controls were observed with respect to spontaneous or bleo mycin induced CA. Spontaneous or MMC induced SCE frequencies were also simi lar in NF1 patients and controls. HFCs, on the contrary, were statistically lower in NF1 patients.