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A literature review has shown that the daily intakes of various N -nitroso-precursor classes in a typical European diet span five orders of magnitude. Amides in the form of protein, and guanidines in the form of creatine and creatinine, are the nitrosatable groups found most abundantly in the diet, approaching Ievels of 100 g/day and 1 gjday, respectively. Approximately 100 mg of primary amines and amino acids are consumed daily, whereas aryl amines, secondary amines and ureas appear to lie in the 1-10 mg range. The ease of nitrosation of each precursor was estimated, the reactivities being found to span seven orders of magnitude, with ureas at the top and amines at the bottom of the scale. From this infonnation and an assessment of the carcinogenicity of the resulting N-nitroso derivatives, the potential health risk due to gastric in vivo nitrosation was calculated. The combined effects of these risk variables were analysed using a simple mathematical model: Risk = [daily intake of precursor] x [gastric concentration of nitrite]\(^n\) x [nitrosatability rate constant} x [carcinogenicity of derivative]. The risk estimates for the various dietary components spanned nine orders of magnitude. Dietary ureas and aromatic amines combined with a high nitrite burden could pose as great a risk as the intake of preformed dimethylnitrosamine in the diet. In contrast, the risk posed by the in vivo nitrosation of primary and secondary amines is probably negligib1y small. The risk contribution by amides (including protein), guanidines and primary amino acids is intermediate between these two extremes. Thus three priorities for future work are a comprehensive study of the sources and Ievels of arylamines and ureas in the diet, determination of the carcinogenic potencies of key nitrosated products to replace the necessarily vague categories used so far, and the development of short-term in situ tests for studying the alkylating power or genotoxicity of N-nitroso compounds too unstable for inclusion in long-term studies.
To date, all risk assessment studies on benzene have been based almost exclusively on epiderniological data. Wehave attempted a more integrated and quantitative evaluation of carcinogenic risk for hurnans, trying to utilize, in addition to the epidemiological data, all data available, specifically data on metabolism, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity in small rodents. An integrated evaluation of the globality of the available data seems to suggest a progressive saturation of metabolic capacity both for man and rodents between 10 and 100 ppm. The most susceptible target cells seem tobe different in humans (predominant induction of myelogenous leukemia) and small rodents (induction of a wide variety of tumors). Nevertheless, both epidemiological and experimental carcinogenicity data tend to indicate a flattening ofthe response for the highest dosages, again suggesting a general Saturation of mechanisms of metabolic activation, extended to different target tissues. From a quantitative point of view, the data suggest a carcinogenic potency at 10 ppm two to three times higher than that computable by a linear extrapolation from data in the 100 ppm range. These observations are in accord with the recent proposal of the European Economic Community of reducing benzene time-weighted average occupationallevels from 10 to 5 ppm.
Metallothionein (MT) is a protein which contains 20 cysteine residues but no aromatic amino acids. It was tested whether treatment of male rats with the hepatocarcinogen diethylnitrosamine (DENA) could ethylate nucleic acids in such a way that protein variants containing measurable amounts of aromatic amino acid residues could be isolated from the livers of treated animals. To give a low Iimit of detection, the "wrong" amino acid precursors were administered in radiolabelled form at high Ievels of activity (7 mCi/kg each of [\(^3\)H]tyrosine and [\(^3\)H]phenylalanine). 11 \(\mu\)Ci/kg [\(^{14}\)C]cysteine was given as an intemal marker for MT biosynthesis. 6 h after amino acid administration, metallothionein (MT) was isolated from the liver and extensively purified. Afteracid hydrolysis and collection of Cys, Tyr, and Phe from an HPLC analysis of the amino acids, the \(^3\)H/\(^{14}\)C ratio was determined. The carcinogen-treated rats exhibited a significantly higher ratio than the vehicle-treated animals. This type of in vivo assay might find interesting applications in the investigation of nucleic acid alkylations as promutagenic lesions.
It was the aim of this investigation to determine whether or not covalent binding of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) to rat liver DNA could be a mechanism of action contributing to the observed induction of liver tumors after lifetime feeding of rodents with high doses of DEHP. DEHP radiolabeled in different positionswas administered orally to female F344 rats with or without pretreatment for 4 weeks with 1% unlabeled DEHP in the diet. Livu DNA was isolated after 16 hr and analyzed for radioattivity. Administration of [\(^{14}\)C]carboxylate unabeled DEHP resulted in no measurable DNA radioactivity. With DEHP [\(^{14}\)C]· and [\(^{3}\)H]. labeled in the alcohol moiety as well as with 2-ethyl[1-\(^{14}\)C]hexanol, radioactivity was clearly measurable in the DNA. HPLC analysis of enzyme-degraded DNA relvealed that the normal nucleosides had incorporated radiolabel whereas no radioactivity was detectable in those fractions where the carcinogen-modified nucleoside adducts are expected. A quantitative evaluation of the negative data in terms of a Iimit of detection for a covalent binding Index (CBJ) indicates that covalent interaction with DNA is highly unlikely to be the mode of tumorigenic action of DEHP in rodents.
Investigation of covalent DNA binding in vivo provided evidence for whether a test substance can be activated to metabolites able to reach and react with DNA in an intact organism. Fora comparison of DNA binding potencies of various compounds tested under different conditions, a normalization of the DNA lesion with respect to the dose is useful. A covalent binding index, CBI = (\(\mu\)mol chemical bound per mol DNA nucleotide )/(mmol chemical administered per kg body weight) can be determined for each compound. Whether covalent DNA binding results in tumor formation is dependent upon additional factors specific to the cell type. Thus far, all compounds which bind covalently to liver DNA in vivo have also proven tobe carcinogenic in a long-term study, although the liver was not necessarily the target organ for tumor growth. With appropriate techniques, DNA binding can be determined in a dose range which may be many orders of magnitude below the dose Ievels required for significant tumor induction in a long-term bioassay. Rat liver DNA bindingwas proportional to the dose of aflatoxin B1 afteroral administration of a dose between 100 \(\mu\)g/kg and 1 ng/kg. The lowest dose was in the range of generat human daily exposures. Demonstration of a lack of liver DNA binding (CBI<0.1) in vivo for a carcinogenic, nonmutagenic compound is a strong indication for an indirect mechanism of carcinogenic action. Carcinogens of this class do not directly produce a change in gene structure or function but disturb a critical biochemical control mechanism, such as protection from oxygen radicals, control of cell division, etc. Ultimately, genetic changes are produced indirectly or accumulate from endogenaus genotoxic agents. The question of why compounds which act via indirect mechanisms are more likely to exhibitanonlinear rangein the dose-response curve as opposed to the directly genotoxic agents or processes is discussed.
Formaldehydeis an electrophilic molecule able to crosslink DNA and protein. It has been found to induce tumors in the nasal epithelium in rodents. The safety margin between the maximum tolerated FA concentration in the work place and the concentration found to be tumorigenic in animal studies is very small. Because FA is produced endogenously as a result of a variety of oxidative demethylations, the assessment of the tumor risk from exogenaus FA exposure has tobe related quantitatively to the level of DNA-protein crosslinks induced by endogenaus FA generation. It is reported here that the high level of endogenaus FA formed in the liver after a large dose of methanol or of aminopyrine did not lead to any observable increase in DNA-protein crosslinks. Using positive and negative control data from in vitro incubations of liver homogenate with FA or methanol it is estimated that the endogenous level of DNA damage in the liver must be more than three orders of magnitude below the damage observed at tumorigenic concentrations for the rat nose. The fact that FA is formed endogenously cannot, therefore, be used to claim that exogenous FA merely leads to a negligible increase in DNA damage.
The lnfluence of mlcrosomal and nuclear aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) actlvlty on the covalent blndlng of [G·3H]benzo(a )pyrene to rat llver DNA was evaluated in viWJ. lnductlon of mlcrosomal AHH was obtalned alter phenobarbltal treatment (160% of control), whlch also lncreased DNA blndlng to 190%, but left the nuclear actlvlty unchanged. Nuclear AHH was lnduced wlth dleldrln (150%), and the blndlng was decreased to 75%, whereaa the mlcrosomal AHH was at control Ievei. The lncreaslng effect of mlcrosomal AHH lnductlon as weil as the decreaslng effect of nuclear AHH lnductlon on the blndlng was shown clearly when the data of the Individual rata were uaed to solve the equatlon Binding = e•(mlcroeomal AHH) + b•(nuclear AHH) + c Multiple linear regresslon analysls wlth the data from 10 anlmala reaulted ln positive valuea for a and c, a negative value for b, and a good multiple correlatlon coefflclent of r = 0.974. Pretreatment wlth 3-methylcholanthrene ln· duced mlcrosomal AHH to 380% of control and nuclear AHH to 590% and lncreased the blndlng' to 175,.-o. The blndlng was hlgher than predlcted by the formula found, probably because the lncreaslng lnfluence of lnduced mlcrosomal AHH overahadowed the decreaslng effect of the nuclear AHH. The study ahows clearly that the blndlng of a forelgn compound to DNA in viWJ Ia dependent not only on mlcrosomal enzyme actlvltles but also on nuclear actlvltles even lf the latter are conslderably lower than thoae of mlcrosomes.
Thecovalent bindingof [6,7-\(^3\)H]ethinylestradiol (EE)and [6,7-\(^3\)H]estrone (E) to liver DNA of 200 g female ratswas measured 8 h after the administration of 80 \(\mu\)g (9.2 mCi) estrogen by gavage. The binding is 1.5 for EE and 1.1 for E, expressedas binding to DNA/dose, in units of \(\mu\)mol hormonefmol DNA phosphate/mmole honnone/kg body wt. It is in the same order of magnitude as for benzene and about 10 000 tim es below the binding of typical liver carcinogens, such as aflatoxin B\(_1\) or N,N-dimethylnitrosamine.
Wlth radioactive compound of high specific activity, the binding of carcinogene to DNA can be measured wlth doses that are ineffective ln long-term studies. The binding of tritiated benzo(a )pyrene to liver DNA of adult male rats has been determined 50 hr after a singie l.p. injection of doses between 40 1'9/kg and 4 mg/kg. The doseresponse relationship is linear up to 1 mg/kg, shows a step towards 2 mg/kg, and gives a shallow linear slope above that value. The observed binding ranges from 1.7 to 180 nmoles benzo(a)pyrene per mole DNA phosphate. The nonlinearity could be due to an induction of metabolizing enzymes. The microsomal aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity increases significantly 24 hr after a single dose of 4 mg/kg and 48 hr after doses of 2 and 4 mg/kg, but no induction Ia found with 1 mg/kg. The binding from an equimolar dose is 35 times lower than the one found on mouse skin DNA and 300 times lower than that of N,Ndlmethylnitrosamine in rat liver. A good correlatlon exiats to the respective tumor formation in long-term studles.
Aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) has been measured in male rat Jiver nucJei and microsomes after treatment of adult animals with various inducers for up to 14 days. After daily i.p. injections of 3-methylcholanthrene (MC, 20 mg/kg) the nuclear activity increased to a maximum of 600 per cent of the control activity after 4 days whereas the microsomal activity was 400 per cent of control at the same date. After 12 days, both activities equilibrated at 400 per cent. A similar time course was found after a single i.p. injection of 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-dibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD, 0.01 mg/kg) with an induction to .500 and 300 per cent for nuclei and microsomes, respectiveJy. after 2 days, and to 400 per cent for both after 12 days. PhenobarbitaJ (PB) was given continuously in the drinking water (I g/1) and induced the microsomal activity to 200 per cent after 8 days and 170 per cent after 14 days. The nuclear activity was only slightly induced to a constant Ievei of 130 per cent between day 8 and 14. Dieldrin did not significantly increase the microsomal activity after daiJy i.p. injections (20 mg/kg), but the nuclear activity raised to 200 per cent after 3 days and levelled down tocontrol valuesafter 12 days. Other inducers tested were benz[a)anthracene (BA), hexachlorobenzene (HCB} and 1,1.1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT). The induction pattern with BA was similar tothat of MC, a modeJ compound for the group of cytochrome P448 inducers. The induction by HCB and DDT resembled that by PB. a typical cytochrome P450 inducer.
The thermodynainic parameters ΔH0, ΔG0 and ΔS0 - and thereby the equilibrium constants - for the complexation of the carrier antibiotics nigericin and monensin with sodium and potassium ions in methanol at 25°C have been determined by microcalorimetry. Tbc results are discussed in terms of the nature of the interaction between ligands and cations.
The detection Iimit of the lacl transgenic mouse mutagenicity assay lies, in practice, at approximately a 50-100% increase in mutant frequency in treated animals over controls. The sensitivity of this assay in detecting genotoxins can be markedly improved by subchronic rather than acute application of the test compound. The lac/ transgenic mouse mutagenicity assay was compared quantitatively to rodent carcinogenicity tests and to presently used in vivo mutagenicity assays. With the genotoxic carcinogens tested thus far, a rough correlation between mutagenic potency and carcinogenic potency was observed: on average, to obtain a doubling in lacl mutant frequency the mice bad to be treated with a total dose equal to 50 times the TD50 daily dose Ievel. This total dose could be administered eilher at a high dose rate within a few days or, preferably, at a low dose rate over several weeks. This analysis also indicated that a lacl experiment using a 250-day exposure period would give a detection Iimit approximately equal to that of a long-term carcinogenicity study. In comparison to the micronucleus test or the chromosome aberration assay, acute sturlies with the presently available lacl system offered no increase in sensitivity. However, subchronic lacl sturlies (3-4-month exposure) resulted in an increase in sensitivity over the established tests by 1-2 orders of magnitude (shown with 2-acetylaminofluorene, N-nitrosomethylamine, N-nitrosomethylurea and urethane). 1t is concluded that a positive result in the lacl test can be highly predictive of carcinogenicity butthat a negative result does not provide a large margin of safety.
In the inhalation system described an animal can be kept in the same atmosphere of a 2-liter desiccator for up to 24 h. The expired carbon dioxide is adsorbed with soda lime and the resulting reduced pressure is balanced by a supply of oxygen also used for the inflow of the chemical to be investigated. Urine and faeces can be collected ~eparately and the system allows a periodical control of the concentration of the chemical by sampling the air with needle and syringe.
The binding of tritiated benzo(a)pyrene (BP) to liver DNA of 25 adult male rats (SIV 50) has been determined 50 h after a single intraperitoneal injection of doses between 40 ug/kg and 4; mg/kg. The dose-response relations~ ip is linear up to i mg/kg, shows a sigmoid step towards 2 mg/kg and a shallow linear. slope above that value. TlJe 0 bserved bin ding ranges from 1.7 to 180 nmoles BP per mole DNA phosphate. The non-linearity between 1 and 2 mg/kg could be explained 0):1 the basis of an induction of metabolizing enzymes. A pure1y mathematical extrapolation of therumour incidence from a carcinogenic dose (1 x 40mg/kg for a 20% hepatoma incidence in newborn mice) to human exposure levels (aboilt 0.1 ug/kg per day) would never have followed a step like the on~ found in our experiments. Our dose-effect study therefore shows how carcinogenitity data could be extrapolated in a biologically founded way to low doses.
Male Fischer F-344 rats were given ethanol in the drinking water and/or by single oral administration. Following this, the animals received p.o. 100 ng/kg of the hepatocarcinogen eHJaflatoxin BI (AFBI)' 24 h later, the level of DNA-bound AFBI was determined in the liver and was found not to be affected by any type of ethanol pretreatment. A cocarcinogenic effect of ethanol in the liver is therefore unlikely to be due to an effect on the metabolic activation and inactivation processes governing the formation of DNA-binding AFBI metabolites.
Ich habe versucht darzulegen, daß mechanistische Überlegungen zur Extrapolation der Dosis-WirkungsBeziehung herangezogen werden können. Ein nichtlinearer Verlauf ist nicht nur bei den epigenetischen Kanzerogenen wahrscheinlich, sondern auch bei den DNA-bindenden. Echte Schwellen sind aber nur in solchen Fällen zu erwarten, wo kein endogenes Korrelat besteht. Immerhin können auch steile Nichtlinearitäten zu einer drastischen Risikoreduktion führen, so daß die Anstrengungen dahin gehen sollten, die Steigung und den Bereich des überproportionalen Abfalls experimentell zu zeigen. In einer heterogenen Population kann die 0 0- sis-Wirkungs-Kurve zusätzliche "Wellen" bekommen und wird dadurch grundsätzlich flacher. Im Extremfall ergibt sich eine lineare Dosis-Wirkungs-Beziehung unabhängig vom Wirkmechanismus des Kanzerogens. Diese Proportionalität zwischen tiefster Dosis und Effekt wird bei genotoxischen Kanzerogenen aus mechanistischen Gründen schon für eine homogene Population postuliert, doch kann dies in einer heterogenen Population auch bei epigenetischen Kanzerogenen in Frage kommen.
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