Vol. 44, No. 4, 2000
THE EFFECTS OF VITAMIN E AND SELENIUM ON THE CYTOTOXICITY AND FREQUENCY OF MICRONUCLEI IN CARBON TETRACHLORIDE-TREATED SHEEP
Piešová, E., Milad, K., Kováč, G.
Department of Anatomy and Histology
University of Veterinary Medicine
Komenského 73
041 01 Košice
The Slovak Republic
Summary
Six healthy, 3-4 year old, nonpregnant, Merino ewes were subjected to a nonlethal dose of 0.05 ml/kg b.w. of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in 1:1 v/v dilution with paraf-fin oil via a stomach tube into the rumen. However, one group (3 sheep) 24 h before the administration of CCl4 was injected s.c. with vitamin E 400 mg (as tocopheryl acetate) and selenium 12 mg (as sodium selenite).
The effect of a single dose of vitamin E and selenium on the frequency of the micronucleus (MN) and cytotoxicity (percentage of binucleated cells and nuclear-division index - NDI) under carbon tetrachloride intoxication were investigated.
The literature data show that exposure to CCl4 can exhibit aneugenic as well as clastogenic activity in cells and therefore the micronucleus (MN) test has been used for evaluating its possible mutagenic and cytotoxic potency.
Our results indicate that CCl4 was able to induce an increase in MN frequencies in the peripheral lymphocytes of all animals. Two groups of sheep were exposed to CCl4:1) those untreated - without pre-exposure treatment and 2) those receiving pre-exposure treatment with vitamin E and selenium. A comparison of the results obtained shows that vitamin E and selenium were effective as inhibitors of MN frequencies and cytotoxicity in sheep peripheral lymphocytes.
Key words: vitamin E; selenium; carbon tetrachloride; micronucleus; peripheral lymphocytes
References
Folia Veterinaria / 2000