Studies on the genotoxic effects of aminophenazines using two cellular models and three different methods.

This paper presents studies on the genotoxicity of two aminophenazines: 2,3-diaminophenazine (DAP) and 2-amino-3-hydroxyphenazine (AHP). The genotoxic activities of these compounds were evaluated with human lymphocytes using the alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) assay and two cytogenetic assays (chromosome aberrations (CA) and sister chromatid exchange (SCE) analysis). Results show that these chemicals elicited an increase in DNA and chromosomal damage under the studied ranges of concentration. Concentration-response curves were similar and there was a positive correlation between the damage observed at the DNA and chromosomal levels. DAP was more genotoxic than AHP and this agreed with the genotoxic potencies reported in bacterial systems.