The effect of a hypoproteic diet and ethanol consumption on the yield of chromosomal damage detected in bone marrow cells of mice.

The relationship between protein malnutrition and ethanol consumption as modulating factors of the genetic response to xenobiotics was studied. BALB/c mice of both sexes were fed for three weeks after weaning either with a normal diet containing 25% protein or a hypoproteic diet containing 5% protein. Half of the animals received 20% ethanol in drinking water. Cytogenetic analysis was performed in bone marrow cells. Slides were stained for C-banding in order to assure the accurate scoring of dicentric chromosomes. Results obtained showed an increased frequency of dicentric chromosomes in mice fed with the hypoproteic diet (5.45 dicentrics per 100 cells) in contrast to mice fed with the normal diet (0.61 dicentrics per 100 cells). Ethanol consumption increased the frequency of chromosomal damage, but no differences in the effect of ethanol between mice fed with the normal diet and mice fed with the hypoproteic diet (16.33 and 16.80 dicentrics per 100 cells respectively). The enhanced frequency of dicentric chromosomes in animals fed with the hypoproteic diet might have been originated from the increase or the improper repair of chromosome breaks. The similarity in the response to ethanol consumption in animals fed either with the normal or the hypoproteic diet might have been provoked by a decrease of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) level in undernourished mice. The chromosomal damage due to ethanol may be lower in undernourished mice than in mice fed with the normal diet due to the reduced amount of circulating acetaldehyde able to induce chromosomal damage. The results obtained are an evidence of the role played by the diet in the modulation of the genetic response to xenobiotics.