Abstract: OBJECTIVE： To investigate the effect of polyacrylamide DNA composites on chromosome aberration of Chinese hamster lung cells (CHL) in vitro， and to evaluate whether it is a mutagen. METHODS： The concentrations of polyacrylamide DNA composites in the chromosome aberration test were set according to the results of the cytotoxicity test (1.25， 2.5 and 5 μL/mL， respectively)， and negative and positive control groups were set up at the same time. The chromosome aberration test was carried out in the presence and absence of the metabolic activation system. After being treated with polyacrylamide DNA composites for different time periods (4 h in the presence of the metabolic activation system，4 and 24 h in the absence of the metabolic activation system)，the cells were collected，and the structure and number of chromosomes were analyzed after hypotonic，fixation，slide preparation and staining. RESULTS： The results of the cytotoxicity test showed that the polyacrylamide DNA composite had no toxic effect on CHL cells. After CHL cells were treated with 1.25， 2.5 and 5 μL/mL polyacrylamide DNA composites， the chromosome aberration rates of cells in the metabolic activation system treatment group were 4% ， 4% and 7% ， respectively. The chromosome aberration rates of cells in the short- term treatment group without metabolic activation were 5%，3% and 7%，respectively，and the chromosome aberration rates of cells in the continuous treatment group without metabolic activation were 4%，2% and 3%，respectively. CONCLUSION： Under the experimental conditions，no aberration-inducing effect of polyacrylamide DNA composite materials on CHL cells was observed.

Key words: polyacrylamide DNA composites, Chinese hamster lung cells, chromosome aberration, genotoxicity