Chromosomal damage induced by vanadium oxides in human peripheral lymphocytes

Abstract

Fly ash, the inorganic residue resulting from the combustion of some fuels, may almost exclusively contain vanadium oxides, compounds which exert potential toxic effects on a wide variety of in vitro and in vivo biological systems. Because information related to the oxidation state responsible for inducing genotoxic effects is controversial, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of three vanadium salts in vitro. Human peripheral lymphocyte cultures were exposed to 1, 2, 4, or 8 μg/mL of vanadium(III) trioxide, vanadium(IV) tetraoxide, or vanadium(V) pentoxide (V₂O₃, V₂O₄, or V₂O₅, respectively). These cultures were then screened for structural chromosomal aberrations, and mitotic index (MI) measurements were made. Cytogenetic evaluations showed that only V₂O₄ increased the percentage of aberrant cells (without gaps) and chromosome damage (including and excluding gaps), while all compounds led to a decrease in the MI. These results demonstrate that vanadium(III), vanadium(IV), and vanadium(V) are all capable of inducing cytotoxicity, but only oxidation state IV induces clastogenic effects.

Keywords::

• Clastogenic effect
• mitotic index
• structural chromosomal aberrations
• vanadium oxides

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a DGAPA-UNAM grant (IN-214706).

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there are no conflict of interest.