Use Of Micronucleus Assay Research Articles

Induction of Micronuclei and Other Nuclear Abnormalities in Channa punctata from Garbage Dumping Area of Deepor Beel- Ramsar Site, North East India

The fish ecology of Deepor Beel is being threatened by the continuous flow of effluents from the solid wastes of Municipal garbage dump. The present study has been aimed to investigate the genotoxic effect of the solid wastes on Channa punctata of Deepor Beel using micronucleus assay. Fishes were collected from garbage dump affected and unaffected area of Deepor Beel. The micronuclei assay demonstrated significantly higher frequency of micronuclei and other nuclear abnormalities in Channa punctata collected from affected site as compared to unaffected reference site. This study depicted the usefulness of micronucleus assay as an adequate approach for ecotoxicological monitoring of aquatic environment and its biodiversity.

The use of micronucleus assay in exfoliated oral cells in patients undergoing fixed orthodontic therapy: a systematic review with meta-analysis

The use of micronucleus assay in exfoliated oral cells in patients undergoing fixed orthodontic therapy: a systematic review with meta-analysis

The use of micronucleus assay in oral mucosa cells as a suitable biomarker in children exposed to environmental mutagens: theoretical concepts, guidelines and future directions.

In the last decades, the micronucleus assay has been recognized as a suitable biomarker for monitoring populations exposed to many different occupational factors, lifestyle, environmental conditions, radiation exposure, and deleterious effects of pesticides. The objective of this work is to direct the design of future field studies in the assessment of the risk of children exposed to environmental mutagens, radiation, and pesticides. This review sought available information on the analysis of micronuclei in oral cells in children. A literature search for papers investigating DNA damage, genetic damage, oral cells, buccal cells, genotoxicity, mutagenicity and micronucleus was begun in 2000 and is scheduled to be concluded in May, 2022. Briefly, a search of PubMed, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar for a variety of articles was performed. The results showed that there are still few studies that addressed micronuclei of oral cells in children exposed to the most diverse environmental conditions. Only environmental pollution was associated with damage to the genome of oral cells in children. Therefore, researchers need to be calibrated in cell analysis, standardization of field study protocols and the development of new research in the evaluation of children using the micronucleus test as a tool in child biomonitoring.

Toxicity and genotoxic evaluations in African catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822) exposed to Act Force Gold®, Butaforce®, and Atraforce®.

Act Force Gold®, Butaforce®, and Atraforce® are among the most commonly used pesticides in Nigeria. The lethal concentrations and the respective toxic units for the three pesticides were determined. The genotoxic effects of the three pesticides were investigated in the red blood cells of Clarias gariepinus using micronucleus (MN) assay. The 96h LC50 was 4.75, 4.84, and 54.74mgL-1 for Act Force Gold®, Butaforce®, and Atraforce®, respectively. The toxic units in ascending order of toxicity were 1.83, 20.66, and 21.05 for Act Force Gold®, Butaforce®, and Atraforce® respectively. The estimated safe levels based on NAS/NAE varied from 4.75 × 10-1-4.75 × 10-5 in Act Force Gold® through 4.64 × 10-1-4.85 × 10-5 in Butaforce® to 5.74-5.74 × 10-5 in Atraforce®. Fish specimens were exposed to the pesticides and sampling was done at regular intervals at days 1, 7, 14, and 21 and after another 7-day recovery period. The results obtained indicated concentration- and duration-dependent increase in % MN formation with maximum values of 3.40 ± 0.25 for Act Force Gold® on day 14 and 3.05 ± 0.36 and 2.35 ± 0.14 for Butaforce® and Atraforce® respectively on day 7 of exposure. The 7-day recovery period could not reverse the trend as the % MN values obtained were significantly different from the control. The results further support the use of MN assay in assessing the toxicity of aquatic pollutants and can be used in the monitoring of aquatic ecosystems.

Use of micronucleus assays for the prediction and detection of cervical cancer: a meta-analysis.

Cervical cancer (CC) is the fourth most common cancer in women; the survival rates depend strongly on its early detection. The Pap test is the most frequently used diagnostic tool, but due to its limited sensitivity/specificity, additional screening tests are needed. Therefore, we evaluated the use of micronucleus (MN) assays with cervical cells for the prediction and diagnosis of CC. MN reflects structural and numerical chromosomal aberrations. A search was performed in Pubmed, Scopus, Thomson ISI and Google Scholar. Subsequently, meta-analyses were performed for different grades of abnormal findings in smears and biopsies from patients which were diagnosed with CC. Results of 21 studies in which findings of MN experiments were compared with data from Pap tests show that higher MN frequencies were found in women with abnormal cells that are indicative for increased cancer risks. MN frequency ratios increased in the order inflammation (2.1) < ASC-US and ASC-H (3.3) < LGSIL (4.4) < HGSIL (8.4). Furthermore, results are available from 17 investigations in which MN were scored in smears from patients with neoplasia. MN rates increased with the degree of neoplasia [CIN 1 (4.6) < CIN 2 (6.5) and CIN 3 (10.8)] and were significantly higher (8.8) in CC patients. Our meta-analysis indicates that the MN assay, which is easy to perform in combination with Pap tests, may be useful for the detection/prediction of CC. However, standardization (including definition of the optimal cell numbers and stains) and further validation is necessary before the MN test can be implemented in routine screening.

Genotoxic and mutagenic effects of permethrin in mice: Micronuclei analysis in peripheral blood erythrocytes

Pyrethroids such as permethrin are synthetic compounds widely used in the agriculture of many countries to combat plagues and in domestic products, such as acaricides. Not so long ago these chemicals were characterized as non-toxic for non-target organisms; however, recent studies have showed that these compounds could present toxic potential for many organisms. In this sense, this study presents genotoxic and mutagenic potential of permethrin administered intraperitoneally in mice under artificial conditions by the use of micronucleus assay in the peripheral blood of these animals. The mice were divided into five groups: group I = negative control (distilled water), group II = positive control (cyclophosphamide), group III = 30% of permethrin LD(50) (96 mg/kg), group IV = 50% of permethrin LD(50) (160 mg/kg), and group V = 80% of permethrin LD(50) (256 mg/kg). The peripheral blood was collected 24, 48, and 72 h after treatment. Results showed that all the tested permethrin dosages presented genotoxic and mutagenic effects 24 h after treatment, which would contradict the classification of this chemical product as moderately toxic, i.e., unable to cause damages to the cell DNA.

Genotoxicity assessment of acute exposure of chlorpyrifos to freshwater fish Channa punctatus (Bloch) using micronucleus assay and alkaline single-cell gel electrophoresis

Chlorpyrifos (O,O-diethyl O-3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridylphosphorothioate) is one of the organophosphate pesticides widely used in agricultural practices throughout world and irreversible inhibitor of cholinesterase in all animal species. Limited efforts have been made to study acute genotoxic effects of chlorpyrifos (CPF) in different tissues of fish using genotoxic biomarkers. Therefore, the present investigation was aimed to study the induction of DNA damage by CPF in freshwater teleost fish Channapunctatus using micronucleus assay (MN assay) and alkaline single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay). The value of LC50 – 96h of CPF was determined as 811.98μgl−1 for C. punctatus, in a semi-static system and on the basis of LC50 value three acute concentrations viz., 203, 406 and 609μgl−1 were determined. The fishes were exposed to the different concentrations of CPF for 96h and samplings were done at regular intervals for assessment of the MN frequencies and DNA damage. In general, significant effects (P<0.01) from both concentrations and time of exposure were observed in exposed fishes. It was found that the micronucleus induction was highest on 96h at all concentrations in the peripheral blood. Similar trend was observed for the DNA damage measured in terms of the percentage of tail DNA in the lymphocyte and gill cells. This study explored the combined use of micronucleus assay and comet assay for in vivo laboratory studies using fresh water fish for screening the genotoxic potential of xenobiotics.

Genotoxic effects of heavy metals: Comparative investigation with plant bioassays

The potential use of micronucleus assays in plants for the detection of genotoxic effects of heavy-metal ions was investigated. Three different plant systems were comparatively investigated in micronucleus tests with Tradescantia pollen mother cells (Trad MCN) and micronucleus tests with meristematic root tip cells of Allium cepa and Vicia faba (Allium/ Vicia MCN). As3+, Pb2+, Cd2+, Zn2+ caused a dose-dependent increase of MCN frequencies in all three test systems. Cu2+ gave consistently negative responses in all three tests; Zn2+ caused only a moderate, statistically not significant increase of MCN frequencies in Vicia. The ranking of genotoxic potencies in all three tests was in the descending order: As3+ > Pb2+ > Cd2+ > Zn2+ Cu2+. In experiments with Tradescantia, induction of MCN was observed in a concentration range between 1 and 10 mM, whereas in tests with root tip cells, higher concentrations (10-1,000 mM) were required to show significant effects. Further increase of the exposure levels caused toxic effects (reduction of root growth), cell division delays, and a decrease of MCN frequencies. Comparisons by linear regression analyses indicated that the sensitivity of the three bioassays for heavy metals decreases in the order: Trad MCN > Vicia root MCN > Allium root MCN. In further experimental series, a soil sample which contained high concentrations of the five metals and a control soil were investigated. Aqueous soil extracts induced only weak effects in Trad MCN tests and no effects in the root tip assays, whereas cultivation of the plants in the soils resulted in a pronounced induction of MCN in the Tradescantia system and moderate effects in Vicia and Allium. In conclusion, the results of the study indicate that the Trad MCN assay detects the genotoxic effects of heavy metals and can be used for biomonitoring metal-contaminated soils.

The use of micronucleus assay in rat hepatocytes primary cultures for determining the genotoxicity of organophosphorous insecticides

The use of micronucleus assay in rat hepatocytes primary cultures for determining the genotoxicity of organophosphorous insecticides