Inhalation of hard metal dust (WC-Co particles) has been associated with an increased risk for lung cancer in occupational settings. In vitro, WC-Co was genotoxic in human lymphocytes producing DNA strand breaks and micronuclei. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the in vivo genotoxic effects of WC-Co dust in rat type II pneumocytes. DNA breaks/alkali-labile sites (alkaline comet assa...

Sperm cryopreservation is widely used for both research and reproduction purposes, but its effect on sperm DNA damage remains controversial. Sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) has become an important biomarker to assess male infertility. In particular, the differentiation between single- and double-stranded DNA fragmentation (ssSDF and dsSDF) has clinical implications for male infertility where ssSD...

Ambient air particulate matter (PM)-associated reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been linked to a variety of altered cellular outcomes. In this study, three different PM samples from diesel exhaust particles (DEPs), urban dust standard reference material SRM1649a and air collected in Manchester have been tested for their ability to oxidise DNA in a cell-free assay, to increase intracellular RO...

OBJECTIVE Alkaline comet assay was used to evaluate DNA repair (nucleotide excision repair, NER) capacity of human fresh lymphocytes from 12 young healthy non-smokers (6 males and 6 females). METHODS Lymphocytes were exposed to UV-C (254 nm) at the dose rate of 1.5 J/m2/sec. Novobiocin (NOV) and aphidicolin (APC), DNA repair inhibitors, were utilized to imitate the deficiency of DNA repair ca...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to investigate hyaluronic acid (HA) protection on cultured human corneal epithelial cells (HCEs) against benzalkonium chloride (BAC)-induced DNA damage and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) increase. METHODS Cells were incubated with different concentrations of BAC with or without the presence of 0.2% HA for 30 min. DNA damage to HCEs was examined b...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate sperm DNA fragmentation and semen parameters to diagnose male factor infertility and predict pregnancy after IVF. DESIGN Prospective study. SETTING Academic research laboratory. PATIENT(S) Seventy-five couples undergoing IVF and 28 fertile donors. INTERVENTION(S) Sperm DNA fragmentation was measured by the alkaline Comet assay in semen and sperm after density gradi...

The alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay can be combined with fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) methodology in order to investigate the localisation of specific gene domains within an individual cell. The number and position of the fluorescent signal(s) provides information about the relative damage and subsequent repair that is occurring in the targeted gene domain(s)....

The aim of this study was to assess radioprotective effects of quercetin and the ethanolic extract of propolis (EEP) in CBA mice exposed to a single radiation dose 4 Gy (60Co). The mice were treated with 100 mg kg(-1) quercetin or EEP a day for three consecutive days either before (pre-treatment) or after gamma-irradiation (therapy). Leukocyte count was determined in blood drawn from the tail v...

To confirm that arsenic (As) induces oxidative DNA damage in phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated and unstimulated human lymphocytes, we used the alkaline comet assay combined with specific enzyme [formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (FPG)] digestion to measure As-induced base damage. The results showed that the enzyme-sensitive sites were readily detected with the alkaline comet assay after the...