Effects of quinoline and 8-hydroxyquinoline on mouse bone marrow erythrocytes as measured by the micronucleus assay.

Both quinoline and 8-hydroxyquinoline (HOQ) were tested for their genotoxicity in CD1 male mice by using a bone marrow micronucleus assay. Mice were intraperitoneally treated in single injections with three dose levels (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) of each chemical with corn oil as solvent vehicle. Bone marrow was sampled at 24, 48, and 72 h postinjection. Quinoline resulted in a significant dose-related increase in the number of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MPCE) at the 24 h sampling time for all doses tested. The high dose (100 mg/kg) and the medium dose (50 mg/kg) also induced statistically significant increases (P less than .05) in the number of MPCEs at 48 h interval. The ratios of polychromatic to normochromatic erythrocytes at the 24 h sampling time were lower for the treated than the control animals. Although HOQ resulted in some increases in the number of MPCEs over the control, this compound induced a statistically significant increase in the number of micronucleated normochromatic erythrocytes (MNCEs) at all three doses following 24 h treatment. Both low and medium doses also induced a higher incidence of MNCEs at the 48 and 72 h sampling times. No data were available for the high dose at these times. The cytotoxic effect of this compound was expressed as low PCE/NCE ratios with all doses at 24 h after injection and as a high mortality rate in animals treated with the high dose (100 mg/kg).