Lifetime exposure to high concentrations of
hexavalent chromium [
Cr(VI)] in
drinking water results in intestinal damage and an increase in duodenal
tumors in B6C3F1 mice. To assess whether these
tumors could be the result of a direct mutagenic or genotoxic mode of action, we conducted a GLP-compliant 7-day
drinking water study to assess crypt health along the entire length of the duodenum. Mice were exposed to water (vehicle control), 1.4, 21, or 180 ppm
Cr(VI) via
drinking water for 7 consecutive days. Crypt enterocytes in Swiss roll sections were scored as normal, mitotic, apoptotic, karyorrhectic, or as having micronuclei. A single oral gavage of 50mg/kg
cyclophosphamide served as a positive control for micronucleus induction. Exposure to 21 and 180 ppm
Cr(VI) significantly increased the number of crypt enterocytes. Micronuclei and γ-H2AX immunostaining were not elevated in the crypts of
Cr(VI)-treated mice. In contrast, treatment with
cyclophosphamide significantly increased numbers of crypt micronuclei and qualitatively increased γ-H2AX immunostaining.
Synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence (XRF) microscopy revealed the presence of strong Cr fluorescence in duodenal villi, but negligible Cr fluorescence in the crypt compartment. Together, these data indicate that
Cr(VI) does not adversely effect the crypt compartment where intestinal stem cells reside, and provide additional evidence that the mode of action for
Cr(VI)-induced
intestinal cancer in B6C3F1 mice involves chronic villous wounding resulting in compensatory crypt enterocyte
hyperplasia.