Short-term tests for transplacentally active carcinogens. I. Micronucleus formation in fetal and maternal mouse erythroblasts.

A cell-kinetic model for the application of the micronucleus test to polychromatic erythrocytes in mouse fetal liver, fetal blood, and maternal bone marrow after exposure to clastogenic agents is described. The time of expression and dose-response relationships obtained with gamma-radiation, methyl methanesulphonate, procarbazine, mitomycin C and benzo[a]pyrene are analysed in terms of this model. The numbers of target cells damaged per unit dose has been calculated and the dose equivalents obtained. Maternal and fetal cells show similar sensitivity to gamma-radiation, but fetal cells are markedly more sensitive to MMS and procarbazine. This probably due to differences in tissue distribution and metabolism. Maternal and fetal erythroid tissues can show linear and exponential dose-response relationships, which may not coincide (e.g. with MMS). It is concluded that risks from fetal exposure to genotoxic agents cannot be reliably predicted from in vivo tests restricted to adult animals. However, the micronucleus technique applied to fetal erythroid cells provides a rapid and reliable short-term test, appropriate to minimising risks of genome damage during prenatal development.