## 4 Discussion  
The comet test is a popular tool used to detect genetic damage [1] and there are several parameters used in this test such as tail length and tail moment [33]. Although the comet test is a well-established test in genetic research [3], its full potential to quantify heterogeneity in response to genotoxic agents has not been exploited [10]; for this reason, [PERSON] et al. [22] proposed a new parameter to detect genetic damage, called the MG. In an effort to assess the ability of the MG as a parameter to detect genetic damage, _Oreochromis niloticus_ and _Ambystoma mexicanum_ erythrocytes were exposed in vitro to the genotoxic agents EMS and UV-C; additionally, the antigenotoxic effect of AA was assessed. The use of EMS and UV-C radiation as genotoxic models was previously reported in different test systems [34; 35; 36; 37; 38; 39] and our data with tail moment and tail length confirm these reports. The evaluation of MGs, using the tail length, as a product of the heterogeneity in the length of the comets, allows characteristic genetic damage to be evaluated in response to \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Genotoxic Treatment**} & \multicolumn{5}{c}{**Ascorbic Acid Antigenotoxic Post-Treatment**} \\ \hline \multirow{5}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Number of** \\ **Migration** \\ **Group** \\ **Migration** \\ **Groups** \\ **Groups** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{5}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Migration** \\ **Group** \\ **Highest Comet** \\ **Cells Number** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{5}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Mean Tail** \\ **Length in** \\ **Cels Number** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{5}{*}{\
\begin{tabular}{c} **Number of** \\ **Migration** \\ **Counting the** \\ **Highest Comet** \\ **Cells Number** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{5}{*}{
\begin{tabular}{c} **Migration** \\ **Group** \\ **Counting the** \\ **Length in** \(\mu\)**m \\ **Cels Number** \\ \end{tabular} } \\ \hline NC & 13 & 123 & 10.61 & 16 & 123 & 10.59 * \\ \hline EMS 2.5 mM & 14 & 90 & 13.03 * & & \\ \hline EMS 5 mM & 11 & 105 & 12.74 * & & \\ \hline EMS 10 mM & 14 & 88 * & 13.71 * & & \\ \hline UV-C 1 min & 11 & 132 & 11.2 & & \\ \hline UV-C 3 min & 11 & 127 & 12.04 * & & \\ \hline UV-C 5 min & 11 & 95 & 12.94 * & & \\ \hline PC (UV-C 5 min) & & & 22 & 95 & 12.94 \\ \hline UV-C, 5 min + AA 5 mM & & & 19 * & 115 & 12.58 \\ \hline UV-C, 5 min + AA 10 mM & & & 19 * & 113 & 12.5 \\ \hline UV-C, 5 min + AA 15 mM & & & 19 * & 119 * & 11.79 * \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* Significant differences (\(p<0.05\)) regarding the negative control.  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Genotoxic and antigenotoxic treatments in _Ambystoma mexicanum_ erythrocytes. The genetic damage was observed using the number of migration groups, the migration groups with the highest comet cell number, and mean tail length observed in each treatment. specific genotoxic agents [22]. For example, UV-C generates MGs with comet cells between 130 and 182, while EMS does it between 106 and 118. Treatment with both genotoxic agents in _Oreochromis niloticus_ and _Ambystoma mexicanum_ erythrocytes showed that MG is as efficient parameter as tail length can be used to assess genetic damage [22]. The decrease in tail length observed in _Oreochromis niloticus_ erythrocytes with 10 mM EMS treatment can be attributed to excess DNA damage, leading to the underestimation of tail length [40] ([PERSON] et al., 2001) and a decrease in the number of MGs. This excess damage and the significant decrease in the number of cells in the MG containing the highest number of comet cells in _Ambystoma mexicanum_ suggest that although the average genetic damage increases, the number of cells with high damage decreases. This behavior has not been previously reported. The formation of MGs makes it possible to identify cells with different levels of genetic damage and compare them in the same sample, so that they do not lose relevance as a consequence of the average effect [22].