No significant differences were observed in the amounts of DNA strand breaks produced by copper between male and female liver cells of Long-Evans Cinnamon (LEC) strain rats
M. Hayashi et al., No significant differences were observed in the amounts of DNA strand breaks produced by copper between male and female liver cells of Long-Evans Cinnamon (LEC) strain rats, J VET MED S, 63(10), 2001, pp. 1109-1113
The amounts of DNA single strand breaks that are oxidative damage produced
by copper were examined by comet assay in the liver cells of an inbred stra
in of Long-Evans Cinnamon (LEC) rats that spontaneously develops fulminant
hepatitis. At 4 weeks of age, copper contents in the liver of LEC rats were
approximately 30-fold higher than those of WKAH rats that are control rats
used in the present study. Copper accumulated in the liver of LEC rats in
an age-dependent manner and no significant differences were observed betwee
n copper contents in the livers of males and females at each week of age fr
om 4 to 15 weeks. No significant amounts of DNA strand breaks were found in
the liver cells of both mate and female WKAH rats from 4 to 15 weeks of ag
e. DNA strand breaks were produced in the substantial population of LEC rat
liver cells at 10 weeks of age and induced in an age-dependent manner from
10 to 15 weeks of age. The amounts of DNA strand breaks produced by copper
accumulation in the liver cells of female LEC rats are not more abundant t
han those in the cells of male rats, although it has been reported that hep
atitis in female rats is more serious than that in male rats.