Cytotoxic and genotoxic effect of arsenic and lead on rat mesenchymal stem cells (rMSCs)

Pollution is a worldwide problem. developing countries are on the top of list due to their poor infrastructure to control pollution. heavy metals have gained more importance in recent decades due to their serious health consequences. among most common heavy metals,arsenic is carcinogenic and lead is neurotoxic. in this study the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects were checked through neutral red and comet assay on bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (mscs) of rat. neutral red uptake assay showed that arsenic and lead had anti-proliferative and cytotoxic effect in a dose dependent manner and effects were severe on short term exposure (6h) to the cells compared to long term exposure (48h). in addition,both metals have genotoxic effect as shown by increased comet area,tail length and percentage dna in the tail after treatment with heavy metal and was compared to control. both the neutral red uptake and comet assays prove the cytotoxic and genotoxic effect of lead and arsenic on rmscs,but arsenic proved to be more cytotoxic and genotoxic compared to lead. copyright © 2015 zoological society of pakistan.