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In previous studies, N-(N'-acetyl-L-propyl)-N-nitrosoglycine (APNG) has been shown to be a potent mutagen in a variety of genotoxicity assays and a carcinogen in a limited cancer study. APNG decomposes to a carboxymethyldiazonium ion, which can also be generated from potassium diazoacetate (KDA). KDA is particularly interesting because it is a stable nitrosated derivative of glycine, one of the most common dietary amino acids. KDA has been shown to produce more O6 carboxymethyl- and O6 methyl-adducts than APNG, so it was anticipated that it might also be a potent genotoxic agent. Thus in the present study KDA has been investigated in the single cell gel electrophoresis (Comet) assay, which primarily measures DNA strand breakage. Since KDA has been shown to be formed in the gut, the genotoxic effects of KDA were investigated in vitro in human adenocarcinoma colon Caco-2 cells, and in rat primary colon cells and compared to responses from human peripheral lymphocytes. KDA induced DNA damage in the three cell types, confirming that KDA is genotoxic in a range of mammalian cells.

The flavonoids, silymarin, myricetin, quercitin, kaempferol, rutin and kaempferol-3-rutinoside have been examined in combination with the food mutagens, 3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido (4,3-b)indole (Trp-P-2) and 2-amino-3-methylimidazo-(4,5-f) quinoline (IQ), in the Comet assay in human lymphocytes from donor A and human sperm from donor B. These compounds alone have been shown to produce positive responses in the Comet assay, as have the food mutagens. However, in combination with the food mutagens, the flavonoids produced antigenotoxic effects since DNA damage was reduced in the Comet assay in lymphocytes and sperm. The assays were performed in the absence of metabolic activation, since when quercetin and kaempferol were examined in blood with metabolic activation, there was little or no difference in response to that obtained in its absence. In the blood, there was an exacerbation or synergy of response at the lowest doses of the flavonoids. In the sperm, with silymarin, myricetin and quercitin, antigenotoxic effects only were observed, but with kaempferol, in general, there were no protective effects. The food mutagen, 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimadazo (4,5-b)pyridine (PhIP), was also examined in addition to Trp-P-2 and IQ in combination with silymarin and myricetin in donors A and C in human lymphocytes only. Similar exacerbation of effects were found at low doses of these flavonoids with antigenotoxic effects at high doses. This was confirmed in the Ames test. There were slightly different profiles in lymphocytes and sperm, but antigenotoxic effects were observed over a similar dose range. This would suggest that effects occur in somatic and germ cells on a one-to-one ratio. These results have implications for man in terms of risk assessment and in the modulation of isolated food constituents., (Copyright 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.)

Two assays, the alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (Comet) assay and the fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) of a whole chromosome or 'chromosome painting' assay have gained importance in recent years as witnessed by the increasing yield of scientific literature using these techniques. Thus, it would be useful to have one system to measure both endpoints. In the present communication, a cost-effective electronic imaging system developed by Kinetic Imaging Ltd., UK, has been used to measure, after treatment of human lymphocytes with doxorubicin, DNA damage in the Comet assay (using software package KOMET) and chromosome damage with the FISH technique (using software package KROMASCAN). The chromosome damage has been detected using chromoprobe-M for chromosome 1 and compared with chromosome damage measured using the conventional Giemsa staining technique. In all three assays, cycling cells were treated, after phytohaemagglutinin stimulation, at 48 h for about 20 h, which resulted in statistically significant dose-related responses in each assay. In non-cycling cells there was no increase in damage in the Comet assay, but there was in the chromosome assays. The FISH assay was only conducted in cycling cells, since the probe used was metaphase-specific. At the highest doses of doxorubicin used, FISH and conventional chromosome assays had similar sensitivities.

The flavonoids silymarin, myricetin, quercetin, kaempferol, rutin, and kaempferol-3-rutinoside have been examined in combination with the food mutagens 3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido (4,3-b)indole (Trp) and 2-amino-3-methylimidazo-4,5-f)quinoline (IQ) in the Comet assay in human lymphocytes from donors A and B and human sperm from donor B. These compounds alone have been shown to produce positive responses in the Comet assay, as have the food mutagens. However, in combination with the food mutagens, the flavonoids produced antigenotoxic effects since DNA damage was reduced in the Comet assay in human lymphocytes and sperm over a similar dose range in the absence of metabolic activation. Only quercetin and kaempferol were examined in blood with metabolic activation, but there was no difference in response to that obtained without activation. In the blood there was an exacerbation or synergy of response at the lowest doses of the flavonoids. In the sperm this was also the case with silymarin and myricetin. With kaempferol there was no antigenotoxic effect and quercetin protected below baseline levels. Since the effects were observed in lymphocytes and sperm over a similar dose range, it would suggest that the Comet assay responses occur in somatic and germ cells in a one-to-one ratio. These results have implications for man in terms of risk assessment and in the modulation of isolated food constituents.

Medicinal plants play a major role in the life of Turkish people and of late medicinal plant usage has increased in many countries. Green plants in general contain mutagenic and carcinogenic substances, but there is little information about the biological activities of herbal medicine. In the present study, therefore, various Turkish medicinal herbs were investigated for their genotoxic potential in the Salmonella typhimurium microsomal activation assay and the alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (COMET) assay. Extracts from these medicinal herbs and some fractions of these extracts were examined. The species investigated were Arctium minus, Ecballium elatterium, Momordica charantia, Plantago major, Urtica dioica, Viscum album, Salvia triloba, Euphorbia rigida, Stachys lavandulifolia, Acteoside, Abies nordmannia. They are used for various immune disorders and are applied either topically or taken orally as a herbal tea. Of the 19 samples of the extracts and fractions investigated, none produced a positive response in strains TA98 and TA100 with or without metabolic activation, but all produced an increase above negative control values in the COMET assay. Some extracts were investigated further and produced dose-related increases. In the case of Urtica and Euphorbia species, where two fractions from these plants were examined, one fraction produced a greater response than the other. It is suggested that the lesser response of the fractions might be due to less DNA strand-breaking agents in the fractions or they may have antigenotoxic properties. The breaks that are detected in the COMET assay could be alkali-labile AP-sites and intermediates in base- or nucleotide-excision repair and are difficult to interpret in terms of hazard for man. Further studies with additional genotoxicity assays would be required to make such a prediction.

Benzene and five of its known metabolites--muconic acid, hydroquinone, catechol, p-benzoquinone, and benzentriol--were examined for DNA damage in human lymphocytes using the alkaline Comet assay, and conditions were optimised to determine responses. Metabolic activation (S-9 mix) was included in the assay for varying times to try to enhance effects. In addition, the effects of catalase were investigated as it is known to be present in S-9 mix reducing oxidative damage, and some benzene metabolites are known to react through oxygen radical mechanisms. Effects were also examined in cycling cells to determine whether they were more sensitive to damage then noncycling cells. Comets were measured either by eye or by image analysis. Data have been presented according to length of treatments. When Comets were measured by eye after treatment with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), the positive control, and each compound for 0.5 hr, only H2O2 and benzenetriol induced pronounced DNA damage without metabolic activation. The effect of catechol was moderate compared with that of benzenetriol. There was a very weak effect of benzene in the absence of rat liver S-9 mix. In the presence of S-9 mix, benzene was not activated. The effect of benzenetriol was greatly reduced by the external metabolising system, but p-benzoquinone became activated to some extent. Catalase abolished the effect of benzenetriol, suggesting that H2O2 formed during autoxidation may be responsible for the DNA-damaging ability of this metabolite. The presence of catalase in S-9 mix may explain the detoxification of benzenetriol and the failure to detect consistent benzene responses. Mitogen-stimulated cycling cells were less sensitive to H2O2 and benzenetriol than unstimulated G0 lymphocytes. When comets were measured by image analysis, a 0.5-hr treatment with H2O2 and benzenetriol and catechol confirmed results analysed by eye, with S-9 mix greatly reducing responses. When treatments were increased to 1 hr in the presence and absence of S-9 mix, benzene at a 5-fold increased dose produced a significant positive response but not at the lower dose. When treatment times were increased to 2 and 4 hr, doses were also increased, and muconic acid, hydroquinone, catechol, and benzoquinone in the presence of S-9 mix showed positive time and dose-related responses, and at the highest dose of benzoquinone the morphology of the nucleus was affected. Effects tended to become more pronounced at high doses and after longer exposures, although this was not always consistent from experiment to experiment. In conclusion, benzene and all metabolites investigated gave positive responses. Where altered responses were observed, they were significantly different from the corresponding controls.

The promutagenic arylamines, m-phenylenediamine (mPDA) and 2-aminofluorene (2-AF), were evaluated for their genotoxicity in Salmonella typhimurium strain YG1024 and in human lymphocytes. These agents were assayed with and without TX1MX plant activation mix. Both arylamines without activation were refractory in S. typhimurium, demonstrating that plant activation was required for the generation of their ultimate mutagenic metabolites. However, using the alkaline single-cell gel/Comet assay, both mPDA and 2-AF directly induced DNA damage in human lymphocytes. This effect was reduced when the human cells were treated with the arylamine plus TX1MX. mPDA with or without plant activation was not toxic to the exposed cells. However, at concentrations over 80 microM, 2-AF was toxic to lymphocytes. This toxic response was eliminated by incubation with TX1MX. mPDA and 2-AF were plant-activated into mutagens for S. typhimurium. However, these plant-activated products had a reduced genotoxic potency in human lymphocytes.