Abstract
In order to examine the utility of the in vivo Comet assay for evaluating genotoxicity in the uterus, we performed the Comet assay using rats' livers and uteri for four compounds: methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and N-nitroso-N-diethylamine (DEN) as genotoxic compounds, indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and diethylstilbestrol (DES) as non-genotoxic compounds. Whether or not the sexual cycles affected the outcome of this assay was also investigated by treatment with saline and MMS. The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference in tail moment among the three sexual cycles either with the saline or MMS treatment. MMS and DEN, genotoxic carcinogens, induced a significant increase in the tail moment in both the uterus and liver. I3C, a non-genotoxic non-carcinogen, and DES, a non-genotoxic carcinogen, did not increase the tail moment significantly in either organ. We confirmed that the Comet assay using rat uteri can be used without considering the sexual cycle to assess in vivo genotoxicity in the uterus and help clarify the mechanism of carcinogenesis.
