Sex differences in micronucleus induction with hycanthone methanesulfonate in bone marrow cells of mice.

The clastogenic effect of the antischistosomal drug hycanthone methanesulfonate was studied with the micronucleus test in mouse bone marrow cells. Male and female (102/El x C3H/El)F1 mice were treated with single i.p. injections. Bone marrow was sampled 18, 24 and 30 h after treatment with 100 mg/kg. The highest micronucleus yield occurred at 24 h. The dose response for micronucleus induction at 24 h after treatment was non-linear for doses between 5 and 300 mg/kg. The lowest effective dose was 5 mg/kg for females and 10 mg/kg for males. The experiments revealed a significantly higher sensitivity of female mice for the induction of micronuclei in polychromatic erythrocytes by hycanthone methanesulfonate. This result supports the recommendation to use both sexes for quantitative assessment of genotoxicity in the micronucleus test.