Pirimicarb and its formulation Aficida (50%
pirimicarb) effects were studied on CHO-K1 cells employing sister chromatid exchange (SCE),
chromosomal aberrations (CA), cell-cycle progression and mitotic index analyses. Continuous treatments were performed within 10-300 microg/ml concentration-range.
Pirimicarb, but not Aficida, induced a concentration-dependent increase of abnormal cells.
Pirimicarb induced a greater frequency of chromatid/isochromatid breaks than Aficida did. Regression analyses showed a concentration-dependent increase in the frequency of chromatid-type breaks for both compounds whereas only the frequency of isochromatid-type breaks did in those
pirimicarb-treated cultures. SCEs in
pirimicarb- or Aficida-treated cultures were significantly higher than control values with concentrations of 100-200 microg/ml. Both test compounds induced equivalent frequency of SCEs. A delay in cell-cycle kinetics was observed for
pirimicarb and Aficida within 100-300 and 200-300 microg/ml concentration-range, respectively. An inhibition of MI was observed for both chemicals regardless of tested concentrations. Finally, the CAs appears to be a higher sensitive bioassay to detect DNA damage at lower concentrations of
pirimicarb than SCEs does. The results demonstrated that
pirimicarb and Aficida exert geno-cytotoxicity, at least in CHO-K1 cells.