Dominant Lethality and Spermatocytic Chromosome Aberrations in Mice Treated with Chlordiazepoxide

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Abstract
Genotoxic potential of chlordiazepoxide (CDZ), a widely used benzodiazepine tranquilizer, was evaluated by the dominant lethal test (DLT) and meiotic chromosome analysis in mice. Adult male mice were treated with CDZ once daily via oral route for 15 days. Each of them was then caged with 2–3 fresh untreated virgin females every week and the cohabitation experiment was continued for a period of 6 weeks. The females were dissected 10 days after separation from the males, and the number of corpora lutea in the ovaries and the incidence of dead and living implants in the uteri were recorded. Control was kept side by side with untreated males. Males, treated and control, used in the DLT were killed in different weeks for spermatocytic chromosome analysis. Significantly higher incidences of post-implantation loss particularly in late weeks and of meiotic chromosome abnormalities clearly reveal positive genotoxic effect of the drug on pre-meiotic and meiotic chromosomes.