Comparison of the aneugenic activity of diazepam in mouse oocytes and other mammalian cells

Abstract

Previous studies have reported that diazepam (DZ) is capable of inducing mitotic-meiotic arrest and increasing the frequency of aneuploidy in mammalian cells both in vitro and in vivo. We now report that DZ failed to induce either meiotic arrest or aneuploidy in mouse oocytes. In fact, doses of 0, 50, 100, or 150 mg/kg DZ administered at the same time as human chorionic gonadotropin did not induce the ovulation of metaphase I oocytes or of hyperploid metaphase II oocytes. A reduction in the number of ovulated oocytes was observed in the treated groups relative to controls, but this reduction was only significant (p < 0.01) at the highest dose. These findings indicate that different results are found among the assays used for detecting chemically induced aneuploidy. Determining the factors responsible for these differences is an important area for future research.