Cytogenetic evaluation for the genotoxicity of bisphenol-A in Chinese hamster ovary cells

•BPA induced significant dose- and time-dependent increases in DNA damage.•BPA induced significant increases in micronucleus frequency and chromosome aberration.•The major types of chromosome structural aberrations were breaks, gaps and fragments.•No positive mutagenic activity of BPA was observed in any of the tester strains.•BPA is not mutagenic but could exhibit genotoxic and cytogenetic effects in CHO cells.

Bisphenol A (BPA), identified as an endocrine disruptor, is an important man-made compound used in a wide range of consumer products. The MTT assay, comet assay, micronucleus test, chromosome aberration test, and Ames assay were conducted to assess the cytotoxic, genotoxic, cytogenetic effects, and mutagenic activity of BPA. After BPA exposure, we showed significant increases in cytotoxicity and level of DNA damage indicated by Olive tail moment, tail length, and % tail DNA in a similar dose- and time-dependent manner. Significant increases in micronucleus frequency and conventional chromosome aberrations were also observed after BPA treatment. The major types of structural aberrations were breaks, gaps, and fragments. However, no positive mutagenic activity of BPA was observed in any of the tester strains. Taken together, the data obtained in this study clearly demonstrated that BPA is not mutagenic but could exhibit significant genotoxic and cytogenetic effects in Chinese hamster ovary cells.