Role of inducible nitrogen oxide synthase in benzene-induced oxidative DNA damage in the bone marrow of mice

We investigated the interaction of BZ and lipolysaccharide (LPS), a well-known inflammation-promoting agent, in wild-type and inducible nitrogen oxide synthase (iNOS) knockout mice. BZ generated DNA strand breaks (SB) in the liver of both wild-type and iNOS-deficient mice. In the bone marrow (BM) BZ and LPS generated SB only in wild-type mice. The effects were additive, suggesting that both a redox cycling and an iNOS-dependent pathway may be involved. Formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase sensitive sites were elevated by BZ in the BM in both types of mice, whereas endonuclease III sensitive sites were not affected by any treatment. Since BZ is associated with leukemia in humans, it suggests that oxidative DNA base damage rather than SB may be important in the development of leukemia.