Genotoxic potency of three quinoline compounds evaluated in vivo in mouse marrow cells.

In vitro assays of the genotoxicity of quinoline compounds have yielded varying indications of their potency, and only limited determinations have been reported following in vivo administrations. We have quantified chromosome aberrations (CA) and sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) in the marrow cells of mice that had been injected with quinoline, 8-hydroxyquinoline, or 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide up to levels approaching lethal. Treatments with quinoline produced no consistent increase in the number of aberrations at either 17 or 36 hr after treatment and no significant increase in SCE numbers at either 23 or 42 hr. Similarly, 8-hydroxyquinoline had no measurable effect on either CA or SCE but did tend to prolong the cell cycle. 4-Nitroquinoline-1-oxide was a very potent inducer of both CA and SCE as well as an inhibitor of cell division.