Tripterygium hypoglaucum (level) Hutch induces aneuploidy of chromosome 8 in mouse bone marrow cells and sperm

Aneuploidy of mouse chromosome 8 induced by a Chinese medicinal herb, Tripterygium hypoglaucum (level) Hutch (THH) was investigated by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in vivo. Male mice were treated with THH (single i.p. injection) at doses of 120, 240 and 480 mg/kg. Colchicine (COL, 1.5 mg/kg i.p.) was used as a positive control. Bone marrow cells and epididymal sperm were collected 24 h and 22 days after treatment, respectively. Chromosome 8 aneuploidies induced by THH in bone marrow cells and sperm were determined by FISH with a biotin-16–dUTP labelled DNA probe corresponding to the centromeric region of chromosome 8. The hybridized probe was detected with avidin–FITC. The frequencies of trisomy 8 in bone marrow cells were 0.16% in the solvent control group, 0.39% in the COL-treated group and 0.33, 0.41 and 0.41% in the THH-treated groups, respectively. The frequencies of disomy 8 sperm were 0.11% in the solvent control group, 0.27% in the COL-treated group and 0.23, 0.27 and 0.27% in the THH-treated groups, respectively. The experiment showed that induced aneuploidy frequencies were higher in bone marrow cells than in sperm with COL and the two higher doses of THH (P < 0.05). All groups were significantly different from the corresponding solvent controls (P < 0.01–0.001), but there was no dose-related increase in either cell type. Considering the present results together with our previous studies, it appears that THH is a potent mammalian aneugen which may pose a genetic risk to human patients.