Adriamycin-induced chromosome aberrations in human fibroblasts

Adriamycin (AM) induced chromosome lesions and cell division delay in human foreskin fibroblasts. Cells treated with 0.01, 0.03, and 0.05 mug AM/ml culture medium for 1 hour and evaluated 5-12 hours post treatment exhibited a wide spectrum of cytogenetic injuries, ranging from moderately damaged metaphases with predominantly simple chromatid-type lesions to heavily damaged metaphases with chromosome stickiness and fragmentation. In moderately damaged metaphases that could be scored for specific types of aberrations, we observed a paucity of chromatid exchanges and chromosome-type lesions even in cultures having a very high frequency of breakages. Further, the distribution of breaks among chromosomes within groups A-G appeared to be random, which suggested that the drug does not show breakage specificity in human fibroblasts; The number of heavily damaged metaphases increased with an increase in concentration of AM and with longer periods of recovery.