Acute cytogenetic effect of sterigmatocystin on rat bone-marrow cells in vivo.

The acute cytogenetic effects of sterigmatocystin (SC) on rat bone-marrow cells in vivo were studied. The incidence of chromosome aberrations in bone-marrow cells increased and reached the maximum level at 12 h after an intraperitoneal injection of 10(-1) mM(31.2 mg)/kg body weight of SC and decreased gradually to the original level after 96 h. A dose-response relationship was observed between the dose of 10(-6) and 1 mM. The chromosome aberrations consisted of chromatid breaks and gaps, the distribution of breaks and gaps within chromosomes (Nos. 1 and 2) was similar to that induced by a carcinogen, 7,12-dimethyl-benz[a]anthracene.