The in vitro effect of beta-carotene and mitomycin C on SCE frequency in Down's syndrome lymphocyte cultures.
Down's syndrome (DS) has the highest incidence among chromosomal disorders and is a predisposing factor in acute leukemia pathogenesis. DS patients are sensitive to both physical and chemical inducers at the DNA level. Studies on beta-carotene, an antioxidant, suggested the there is a relationship between high beta-carotene diet and reduced tumor incidence in humans indicating that beta-carotene is a chemopreventive agent against cancer. Sister chromatid exchange (SCE) is known as a sensitive parameter among the genotoxicity tests. In this study, we aimed to investigate the in vitro effect of beta-carotene on SCE frequencies in 7 DS patients and 7 healthy controls aged between 0-16 years. A direct leukomogenic agent Mitomycin-C (MMC) was used as a powerful SCE inducer. Addition of MMC to the cultures alone resulted in a significant enhancement of SCE frequencies in both groups when compared to the spontaneous values. In the study, beta-carotene seemed to decrease MMC induced mean SCE/cell values, but did not have an effect on unstimulated cells. As this is a limited study, it is hard to conclude that beta-carotene is a chemopreventive agent in DS patients, although our results seem to support other investigators' reports.
Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.
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Bal
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Sahin
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Yirmibes
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Balci
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Menevşe
D000293:Adolescent; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D016685:Mitomycin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012854:Sister Chromatid Exchange / Q000187:drug effects*; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000494:pharmacology*
D000975:Antioxidants; D019207:beta Carotene; D016685:Mitomycin