Comparison of chromosome breakages in lymphocytes and fibroblasts from control women and women taking oral contraceptives.

To determine whether exposure to synthetic hormones resulted in increased chromosome damage in cells other than lymphocytes, we evaluated series of lymphocyte and fibroblast cultures from five control women and five women taking oral contraceptives (OC). The results of this study showed: (1) no difference in chromosome breakages between lymphocytes and fibroblasts; (2) no differences in breakages in replicate fibroblast cultures exposed to fetal calf serum, autologous serum, homologous serum, or homologous serum from OC users; (3) no difference in breakage between lymphocyte and fibroblast cultures from OC users, compared with lymphocyte and fibroblast cultures from control women; and (4) no increase in the frequency of cytogenetically aberrant stem-lines in fibroblast cultures from women taking OC. These findings suggest that synthetic hormones do not cause increased chromosome breakages in fibroblasts from women taking OC.