Abstract

PALERMO, A.M  and  MUDRY, M.D. Acetaldehyde induced developmental and genetic damage in Drosophila melanogaster. BAG, J. basic appl. genet. [online]. 2015, vol.26, n.2, pp.75-81. ISSN 1852-6233.

Acetaldehyde (AAld) is a ubiquitous compound in the environment. Exposure may occur in its manufacture or use, in the consumption of alcoholic beverages and through cigarette smoke. It causes distant target effects, including DNA damage, glutathione depletion, enzyme inactivation and cell death. In the present work, its potential teratogenic, mutagenic and recombinagenic effects in somatic cells of D. melanogaster were analyzed. The white/white+ (w/w+) eye mosaic test (Somatic Mutation And Recombination Test, SMART) was applied by mating w/w females with y/Y males. Larvae of 48 ± 4 h were transferred to media with 0.01 %, 0.02 %, 0.05 % and 0.10 % AAld for 12 hs and then moved to regular media until pupation. The emerging w/w+ females were evaluated for malformations in those exposed to the two lower concentrations, and for the presence of white light spots (LS) in the exposed to AAld at the three higher concentrations. A significant increase in the number of malformations was observed in adults born from larvae chronically exposed to AAld. The number of LS that resulted from loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in treated larvae was modified by 0.05 % and 0.10 % AAld that yielded a more than twice rise in the control values of LS/100 eyes (p<0.05). Our findings confirm that AAld is capable by itself of altering the regulation of development and inducing genetic damage in somatic cells of Drosophila melanogaster. These, together with results previously reported in other in vivo and in vitro model systems, highlights the potential role of AAld in the pathogenesis of fetal alcohol syndrome.

Keywords : Ethanol; Teratogenesis; Mutagenesis; Loss of heterozygosity; Eye-spot test.