THE ANTIBIOTIC ERYTHROMYCIN DID NOT AFFECT MICRONUCLEUS FREQUENCY IN HUMAN PHA-STIMULATED LYMPHOCYTES

The aim of the present study was to investigate the ability of the antibiotic erythromycin to induce micro- nucleus (MN) frequency and the cytokinesis block proliferation index (CBPI) in human peripheral blood lymphocytes in vitro using the cytokinesis-block micronucleus test (CBMN). Cell cultures were treated with five different concentrations of erythromycin ranging from 0.68 x 10-4 to 5.45 x 10-4 M. The positive control cells were treated with a known mutagen, mitomycin C (MMC), in a concentration of 1.6 x 10-6 M. None of the tested concentrations of erythromycin significantly changed the average MN frequency or CBPI in PHA-stimulated lymphocytes (p > 0.05).