Cytogenetic effect of griseofulvin in mouse spermatocytes.

The genotoxic effects of griseofulvin (GF) in mouse primary spermatocytes at diakinesis metaphase I of meiosis were investigated. Griseofulvin was administered orally as a single dose of 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 mg kg-1 body wt. and a multiple treatment with a daily dose of 1000 mg kg-1 body wt. for three and five successive doses. Both single and multiple treatment induced a statistically significant increase in the percentage of chromosomal aberrations which have a dose and time-dependent relationship. The frequency of chromosomal aberrations peaked 6 and 12 h post treatment; with the highest dose of the drug it reached 27.8% +/- 0.87 and 27.66% +/- 0.48 6 and 12 h respectively, compared with 5.6% +/- 0.39 and 5.2% +/- 0.48 for the control. The types of aberrations recorded were structural, including X-Y and autosomal univalent, gaps, breaks, fragments, chain IV and numerical in the form of diploid, triploid, tetraploid and aneuploid. The results of this study suggest that griseofulvin has a genotoxic effect in mouse spermatocytes.