Sex dependent toxicity of four chemicals.

Toxicity investigations were conducted with 4 chemicals: hydrazine, 1,2-dimethylhydrazine di HCl, phenylhydrazine HCl and Beta-N-(gamma-L(+)-glutamyl)-4-hydroxymethylphenylhydrazine in Swiss mice. Hydrazine and phenylhydrazine HCl were administered daily in drinking water, the former at 0.01% and the latter at 0.001% concentrations. The 1,2-dimethylhydrazine di HCl and Beta-N-(gamma-L(+)-glutamyl)-4-hydroxymethylphenylhydrazine were given as a single subcutaneous injection at 45 mug and 100 mug/gr. body weight basis, respectively. The findings clearly showed that all four chemicals exerted a stronger toxic effect in male than in female mice. It is, therefore, recommended in similar situations to use different doses of chemicals for each sex in the long-term tumorigenesis studies.