Chromosomal damage induced by some ergot derivatives in vitro

Three ergot derivatives, dihydroergotoxine, ergotamine and methysergide, were tested for their ability to induce chromosomal damage in human lymphocytes in culture. The aberration frequency was significantly increased after treatment of the cells with 0.1 microng/ml, 0.25 microng/ml and 0.5 microng/ml of each drug. However the degree of damage was considerably less than that produced by 0.1 mg/ml to 0.5 mg/ml of caffeine, which was used as a positive control and is a known mutagen in this test-system.