Use of an in vitro technique to detect mutations induced by antineoplastic drugs in mouse germ cells.

Male mice were given graded doses of procarbazine or mechlorethamine in the presence or absence of prednisolone. Eight to 24 days later, these mice were mated with untreated females and the resulting zygotes were cultured in vitro from the two-cell stage to an early implantation stage. The frequency of successful embryonic development in these embryos was less than the frequency in embryos sired by untreated control animals. The reduced frequency reflects the induction of mutagenic lesions in the germinal epithelium by the drugs and their transmission by the spermatozoa to the oocyte.