Moderate malnutrition in rats induces somatic gene mutations

• The frequencies of reticulocytes and erythrocytes with a Pig-a mutant phenotype were measured.
• Well-nourished and malnourished rats were exposed to ENU.
• Moderate malnutrition increased the frequency of spontaneous Pig-a mutations.
• No differences in ENU-induced Pig-a MFs were observed between groups of rats.
• A deficient nutrient status appears to affect genomic stability.

The relationship between malnutrition and genetic damage has been widely studied in human and animal models, leading to the observation that interactions between genotoxic exposure and micronutrient status appear to affect genomic stability. A new assay has been developed that uses the phosphatidylinositol glycan class A gene (Pig-a) as a reporter for measuring in vivo gene mutation. The Pig-a assay can be employed to evaluate mutant frequencies (MFs) in peripheral blood reticulocytes (RETs) and erythrocytes (RBCs) using flow cytometry. In the present study, we assessed the effects of malnutrition on mutagenic susceptibility by exposing undernourished (UN) and well-nourished (WN) rats to N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) and measuring Pig-a MFs. Two week-old UN and WN male Han-Wistar rats were treated daily with 0, 20, or 40 mg/kg ENU for 3 consecutive days. Blood was collected from the tail vein one day before ENU treatment (Day-1) and after ENU administration on Days 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56 and 63. Pig-a MFs were measured in RETs and RBCs as the RETCD59− and RBCCD59− frequencies. In the vehicle control groups, the frequencies of mutant RETs and RBCs were significantly higher in UN rats compared with WN rats at all sampling times. The ENU treatments increased RET and RBC MFs starting at Day 7. Although ENU-induced Pig-a MFs were consistently lower in UN rats than in WN rats, these differences were not significant. To understand these responses, further studies should use other mutagens and nucleated surrogate cells and examine the types of mutations induced in UN and WN rats.