Wood-drying condensate from Eastern white pine induced cytotoxicity and genotoxicity in vitro

Eastern white pine is one of the most important commercial species of wood in the Northeast. Condensates extracted from this wood were tested to detect potential cytotoxicity and genotoxicity in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells in the absence of S-9 activation. Cytotoxicity was measured by the Trypan blue exclusion assay, mitotic index (MI) and proliferative rate index (PRI). Genotoxicity was measured by the chromosome aberration (CA) assay and sister chromatid exchange (SCE) analysis. Both cytotoxic and genotoxic effects were observed. Laboratory-generated Eastern white pine condensate reduced the viability of CHO cells. The number of viable cells was roughly inversely proportional to dosage over a range of 91 percent to 58 percent survival in treated groups as compared to 2.4 x 10(5) viable cells (100 percent) in the control. The mitotic index (MI) data also showed an inverse correlation with dosage. The highest scorable dose limited by toxicity was determined to be 1 ml of Eastern white pine condensate in a total of 10 ml of medium. Lastly, a dose response curve was observed using the CA assay and also with the SCE analysis. The present findings support results obtained from Ames testing of Eastern white pine condensate and also corroborate results derived from human peripheral-blood lymphocytes.