The feasibility of using Chinese hamsters as an animal model for aneuploidy

The utility of Chinese hamsters as a test species for aneuploidy analysis was studied using four chemicals--vincristine, methyl 2-benzimidazole carbamate (MBC), nocodazole, and cyclophosphamide. Ten or more male Chinese hamsters were used per dose and bone marrow was removed at intervals of 6-96 hr. Slides were coded and 50-100 metaphases were analyzed per animal. A metaphase with more than 22 chromosomes was classified as a hyperploid cell, and the data were evaluated by using a one-tailed Fisher's exact test. In experiments using vincristine, MBC, and nocodazole, the frequencies of hyperploid cells were 0.43, 1.14, and 0.91%, respectively, for the control groups. In the experiment using cyclophosphamide, the control value frequency was 3.75%. The treated groups showed no significant increase in hyperploid frequencies when compared to concurrent controls at each of the treated times, except the value at 24 hr for the group that had been treated with vincristine at 0.75 mg/kg. However, this increase was not significant when compared to the overall value for pooled controls, with or without the cyclophosphamide control. Therefore, no significant effects due to chemical treatment were obtained in the present study. The results illustrate the extent of animal-to-animal as well as experiment-to-experiment variability in hyperploid frequencies and the importance of incorporating concurrent controls in assays for aneuploidy.