Cytogenetic effects of hycanthone in the rat

Hycanthone methanesulfonate (HCT), a new drug used for the treatment of schistosomiasis, was examined for its ability to produce chromosomal abnormalities in rat bone marrow cells. Rats were given intraperitoneal injections of HCT at 40, 80, or 100 mg/kg and were killed at 6, 24, or 48 h. All levels produced a significant increase cells with abnormalities at all three time periods. There was a significant linear relationship between arithmetic dose and the proportion of cells affected. Based on two of the three experiments peformed, assuming the same slope holds in the vicinity of 0, the upper 95% confidence limits on the expected risk at level of 0.5] mg/kg would be a 0.055% increase in affected cells above control values.