Substantial inhibition of chromate induced DNA-protein crosslink formation in vivo by α-lipoic acid

Cellular DNA-protein crosslink (DPCs) are the biologically active nucleoprotein complexes. Chromate compounds induce its formation. We have found that intraperitoneal-administration of α-lipoic acid (LA, a metabolic antioxidant) inhibited substantially the chromate induced DPCs formation in mouse peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL). Change in LA administration schedule (i.e. pre-, co- or post-toxin) did not influence its effect. Results are of significance in two aspects viz. chemoprevention of chromate toxicity and exposure/effect estimation of chromate handling subjects. The antioxidant diet/therapy may mask the exposure/effect assessments and yield high frequency of false-negatives in study subjects.