DNA deaminating ability and genotoxicity of nitric oxide and its progenitors.

Nitric oxide (NO), a multifaceted bioregulatory agent and an environmental pollutant, can also cause genomic alterations. In vitro, NO deaminated deoxynucleosides, deoxynucleotides, and intact DNA at physiological pH. That similar DNA damage can also occur in vivo was tested by treating Salmonella typhimurium strain TA1535 with three NO-releasing compounds, including nitroglycerin. All proved mutagenic. Observed DNA sequence changes were greater than 99% C----T transitions in the hisG46 (CCC) target codon, consistent with a cytosine-deamination mechanism. Because exposure to endogenously and exogenously produced NO is extensive, this mechanism may contribute to the incidence of deamination-related genetic disease and cancer.

Reliability and normative values of the Wheelchair Propulsion Test: A preliminary investigation.

BACKGROUND: Normative data for the equivalent of gait speed via the Wheelchair Propulsion Test (WPT) do not exist for wheelchair users. OBJECTIVE: The purposes of the current study were to: 1) determine the reliability of the WPT, 2) propose and compare normative values for the WPT for young adult males and females utilizing three different propulsion techniques, and 3) compare how different wheelchair types affect performance on the WPT. METHODS: 50 young adults (25 of each sex) performed the WPT using three different propulsion techniques in three different types of wheelchairs. Participants were asked to propel a wheelchair over 10 m at a comfortable speed. Time and number of pushes were recorded for three trials for each propulsion technique in each type of wheelchair. RESULTS: All of the ICC(2,2) values were >0.83 for speed and number of pushes. Normative values for speed, number of pushes, push frequency and effectiveness categorized by propulsion technique, sex and wheelchair type were developed. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary normative values have been established for young adults performing the WPT. This study highlights the need to maintain consistency of the wheelchair type and propulsion technique between trials in order for the WPT to be reliable.

Bile acids: co-mutagenic activity in the Salmonella-mammalian-microsome mutagenicity test: brief communication.

Of 30 bile acids tested, none was mutagenic in the Salmonella-mammalian-microsome test with indicator strains G46, TA1530, TA1535, TA1536, TA1537, TA1538, TA98, or TA100. However, when lithocholic acid or one of its conjugates was tested with suboptimal amounts of 2-aminoanthracene and phenobarbital-stimulated rat liver homogenate, enhancement and co-mutagenesis were observed if TA1538 was the indicator strain.

Mutagenic activity of tryptophan metabolites produced by rat intestinal microflora.

The catabolism of tryptophan by rat intestinal microflora was studied for the production of mutagenic metabolites that might be involved in the etiology of colon cancer. Various tryptophan metabolites were assayed for mutagenic and comutagenic activity in the Ames bacterial test system. These included metabolites that were identified by thin-layer chromatography in cultures of rat fecal bacteria, other compounds structurally related to tryptophan, whole unfractionated mixed fecal bacteria culture filtrates, and concentrated solvent extracts. A total of 27 materials were tested with 5 Salmonella strains in the mutagenesis assay. Most substances were inactive, and only one compound, o-aminoacetophenone, which was unlikely to be produced in the intestine, showed weak comutagenic activity. Our results did not support the hypothesis that tryptophan metabolites produced by intestinal microflora are major etiologic factors in cancer of the colon.

Effect of lithocholic acid on the mutagenicity of some substituted aromatic amines.

The effects of lithocholic acid on the mutagenicity of 24 aromatic amines in the Ames assay were examined. When lithocholic acid was added to the Salmonella/mammalian--microsome mutagenicity system with the use of postmitochondrial supernatant fractions from livers of male inbred SD rats pretreated with Aroclor 1254 or phenobarbital, various effects on the mutagenic responses were observed. The effects on mutagenicity varied with the substrate and the type of 9,000 X g-supernatant fraction. With preparations from phenobarbital-treated rats, lithocholic acid caused an inhibition of the mutagenic response with 16 of 24 compounds tested. The mutagenicity of three of these test compounds (2,4-diaminoanisole, 3-methoxy-4-aminoazobenzene, and 1-aminoanthracene) was unaffected by inclusion of lithocholic acid, while the lithocholic acid enhanced the mutagenicity of three others (2-aminoanthracene, 9-aminophenanthrene, and 2-acetylaminoanthracene). With 9,000 X g-supernatant fractions from Aroclor 1254-treated rats, the mutagenicity of eight test compounds was unaffected and that of 10 others was inhibited, while the mutagenicity of six others was enhanced when lithocholic acid was included in Ames assay mixtures. These results demonstrate that lithocholic acid can cause three distinct effects on the mutagenicity of these amines when included in these assays, namely, 1) no effect--no change in mutagenicity of the test compound, 2) inhibitory--levels of mutations significantly decreased or inhibited relative to those of controls, and 3) enhancement--significantly higher levels of mutations relative to those of controls. On the basis of structure alone and without detailed knowledge of the metabolism of each test compound, no conclusions or predictions could be made regarding the effects of lithocholic acid on the mutagenicity of these or any other compounds in the Ames assay.

Greater effectiveness of hepatocyte and liver S9 preparations from hamsters than rat preparations in activating N-nitroso compounds to metabolites mutagenic to Salmonella.

A comparison was made of the ability of liver S9 and hepatocyte preparations from noninbred Syrian golden hamsters and noninbred Sprague-Dawley rats to metabolically activate a number of nitroso compounds in the Salmonella mutagenesis assay. The liver S9 and hepatocyte preparations from hamsters were consistently more effective than were preparations from rats in metabolizing nitrosodimethylamine (NDM), nitrosodiethylamine, nitrosodiallylamine, nitrosopyrrolidine (NP), nitrosomorpholine (NM), nitrosodiethylmethylurea (NDEMU), and nitrosodimethyl-ethylurea (NDMEU) to mutagenic forms. The use of hamster S9 preparations with NP and NM resulted in up to 14 times the number of revertant colonies obtained with rat preparations; in the presence of hamster hepatocytes, up to 32 times the number of revertants were obtained. The S9 preparations from male hamsters not treated with the enzyme inducers phenobarbital and Aroclor 1254 were more effective than were those from female hamsters for activating NP, NM, and NDM, NDEMU and NDMEU, which have been reported to be carcinogens but not mutagens, were mutagenic in the presence of induced liver S9 or hepatocyte preparations from hamsters but not from rats. When tested with any of the S9 or hepatocyte preparations, nitrosodiphenylamine and nitrosomethylaniline, also reported to be carcinogens but not mutagens, gave no mutagenic responses. Nitrosodioctyl-amine, which has been reported to be noncarcinogenic, was also not mutagenic.

Metabolic activation by hamster and rat hepatocytes in the Salmonella mutagenicity assay.

Intact and homogenized hepatocytes from untreated or Aroclor 1254-treated male and female noninbred Sprague-Dawley rats and noninbred Syrian golden hamsters were compared for their ability to metabolize chemicals in the Salmonella-mammalian microsome mutagenesis assay. The following chemicals were used: two aromatic amines, 2-amino-anthracene and N-2-fluorenylacetamide; two polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 3-methylcholanthrene and benzo[a]pyrene (BP); and one nitrosamine, diethylnitrosamine (DENA). With one exception, hepatocytes from hamsters were more active than were hepatocytes from rats in the activation of these mutagens. The homogenized preparations from Aroclor 1254-treated rats were slightly more active with BP than was the equivalent hamster preparation. Intact hepatocytes from Aroclor 1254-treated hamsters were more efficient at metabolizing the aromatic amines and DENA, whereas homogenates were more effective with the hydrocarbons. Results were similar with the rat preparations, except that only large quantities of Aroclor 1254-treated intact male rat hepatocytes appeared to activate DENA. These results suggest that, in the choice of an activation system, the kind of chemical being evaluated should be considered.

Decontamination and disposal of nitrosoureas and related N-nitroso compounds.

An improved procedure for chemically decontaminating residues of nitrosoureas and related N-nitroso compounds ("nitrosamides") commonly used in the cancer research laboratory is proposed. Treatment of accumulated wastes with aluminum:nickel alloy powder while progressively increasing the basicity of the medium consistently led to at least 99.98% destruction of each nitrosamide tested. Hazardous diazoalkanes were never detected in yields of greater than 0.1%. The mutagenicity of the completed reaction mixtures was never more than 3 times background except when the N-nitroso compound contained a 2-chloroethyl group. In most cases, the completeness of reaction could be determined chromatographically, not only to demonstrate the disappearance of the starting N-nitroso compound, but also to follow production of identifiable products in sufficient abundance to account for the starting material destroyed; none of the organic products observed was mutagenic in any of the four tester strains used. The procedure described herein proved reliable in two checker laboratories besides our own when applied to mixtures of seven N-nitroso compounds: N-methyl-N-nitroso-p-toluene-sulfonamide; N-methyl-N-nitrosourethane; N-methyl-N-nitrosourea; N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine; N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea; N-ethyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine; and N-ethyl-N-nitrosourethane. All of the other procedures investigated for destruction of nitrosamides, including the widely used approach of dissolving the nitrosamides in alkali, were associated with important disadvantages.

Evaluation of metabolic activation of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene in vitro by aroclor 1254-induced rat liver S-9 fraction.

Short-term assays for detection of chemical carcinogens frequently rely on an Aroclor 1254-induced rat liver S-9 fraction for metabolic activation of test compounds. The ability of this in vitro system to reproduce the activation occurring in target tissue was investigated by examining the DNA adducts produced when the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon carcinogen, 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA), was incubated with the S-9 fraction and calf thymus DNA. Analyses by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography of hydrocarbon-deoxyribonucleoside adducts obtained after enzymic digestion of the [3H]DMBA-modified DNA revealed that the products of binding of DMBA to DNA in the presence of the S-9 fraction vary with the relative concentration of DMBA to S-9 fraction. Further analyses of these adducts by high-pressure liquid chromatography in the presence of the diol-epoxide-DNA adduct (isolated from mouse embryo cells exposed to [14C]DMBA) and chemically synthesized ultraviolet-absorbing markers of DMBA 5,6-oxide-deoxyribonucleoside adducts showed that, at high DMBA-S-9 ratios, DMBA 5,6-oxide-deoxyriboiucleoside adducts were prominent among the products while, at low DMBA-S-9 ratios, the products included the diol-epoxide-DNA adduct found in target tissue. However, this adduct was always accompanied by other adducts not found in intact cellular systems. Inclusion of a metabolic inhibitor (1,1,1-trichloropropylene oxide) in the Salmonella mutagenicity assay demonstrated that high levels of revertants can be obtained from rat liver S-9 fraction-activated DMBA under conditions which should prohibit formation of the diol-epoxide. These results suggest that Aroclor 1254-induced rat liver S-9 fraction does not exactly reproduce the metabolic activation of this particular carcinogen in vivo and therefore should not be assumed to do this for other carcinogens.

Mutagenicity of potassium alkanediazotates and their use as model compounds for activated nitrosamines.

The mutagenicity of a series of potassium alkanediazotates in the Ames assay was studied. These compounds were isolated as solids and are soluble in dimethyl sulfoxide. Upon addition to water, they form diazohydroxides (which are postulated intermediates in the decomposition of alpha-hydroxylated nitrosamines). The diazohydroxides decompose to electrophilic intermediates which may react with macromolecules or water. In the Ames assay, potassium diazotates produced his+ revertants in Salmonella typhimurium strains TA 100 and TA 1535 but not in strains TA 98, TA 1537, or TA 1538. Methane, methane-d3, ethane, propane, and phenylmethanediazotates were mutagenic in strain TA 100, and all diazotates with the exception of phenylmethanediazotate, produced revertants in TA 1535. The order of mutagenic potency of these compounds was: methane approximately equal to methane-d3 greater than ethane, greater than phenylmethane (TA 100) greater than propane greater than phenylmethane (TA 1535) = 0. All diazotates were direct-acting mutagens and produced revertants even when no liver 9000 X g supernatant (S9) fractions were present. S9 fractions inhibited the mutagenicity of potassium diazotates, and equivalent concentrations of S9 fractions (3 mg protein per plate) from either rat or hamster liver, whether induced or not, were equally effective. Bovine serum albumin was not as effective as S9 fractions in inhibiting diazotate mutagenesis, but heat-inactivated (70 degrees for 20 min) S9 fractions were as inhibitory of methanediazotate mutagenicity as native S9 fractions were at low protein concentrations. The half-lives of mutagenicity of methane- and ethanediazotates in aqueous solutions were identical (less than or equal to 15 sec); after less than 2 min in solution, these diazotates were rendered completely inactive. The implications of these studies for mechanisms of nitrosamine action and the use of potassium alkanediazotates as model compounds for activated nitrosamines are discussed.

Case-control study of colorectal cancer and fecal mutagenicity.

Fecal mutagenicity was measured in 68 patients with colorectal cancer and in 114 controls, using Salmonella tester strains TA98 and TA100 with and without S9 activation. Samples were also tested for fecapentaenes by high-performance liquid chromatography, to permit the separation of fecapentaene and non-fecapentaene mutagenicity. Overall, no significant case-control differences in fecal mutagenicity were observed. However, when samples containing high concentrations of fecapentaenes were excluded, non-fecapentaene TA98 mutagenicity was observed in eight cases (12%) and only four controls (4%), resulting in an estimated relative risk of 4.4 (95% confidence interval = 1.0-21.1). The association of colorectal cancer risk with non-fecapentaene TA98 mutagenicity could not be explained as an artifact of diagnostic workup or gastrointestinal bleeding among the cases. Smoking could also be excluded as a source of the TA98 mutagenicity seen, but possible dietary origins are still being explored.

Biochemical epidemiology of cervical neoplasia: measuring cigarette smoke constituents in the cervix.

In preparation for an epidemiological investigation of cigarette smoking and cervical neoplasia, we studied methods of measuring cervical exposure to tobacco smoke. The measurement of cotinine in cervical flushes by radioimmunoassay proved to be highly accurate in distinguishing smokers from nonsmokers, achieving 100% sensitivity and 97% specificity. In most subjects, quantitative levels of cervical cotinine and nicotine mirrored recent smoking intensity. Some of the apparent exceptions may have resulted from metabolic/secretory traits of the subjects. If so, the biochemical measurement of smoke constituents in the cervix might prove more valuable for epidemiological studies of cervical neoplasia than data on current smoking behavior collected by interview.

Central projections of Limulus photoreceptor cells revealed by a photoreceptor-specific monoclonal antibody.

Studies of lateral, median, and ventral eyes of the chelicerate arthropod Limulus polyphemus (the common American horseshoe crab) are providing important basic information about mechanisms for information processing in the peripheral visual system and for the modulation of visual responses by light and circadian rhythms. The processing of visual information in Limulus brain is less well understood in part because the specific central projections of the various classes of visual neurons are not known. This study describes a mouse monoclonal antibody, 3C6A3, which binds to Limulus photoreceptor cell bodies, their axons, and terminals, but not to any other cell type in the central nervous system. This antibody, and intracellular injection of biocytin, are used to demonstrate the central projections of each type of photoreceptor. Our main conclusions are that: 1) the photoreceptors (retinular cells) of the lateral eye project only to the lamina; 2) the photoreceptors of the lateral rudimentary eye project to both the lamina and medulla; 3) the photoreceptors of the median ocellus project only to the ocellar ganglion; and 4) the photoreceptors of the rudimentary median (endoparietal) eye project to the ocellar ganglion and also into the optic tract. These results, along with previous studies, allow us to infer the projections of the secondary cells. The eccentric cells of the lateral eye project to the lamina, medulla, optic tract, and ocellar ganglion. The arhabdomeral cells of the median ocellus project through the ocellar ganglion and to optic tract to the medulla.

Histamine: a putative afferent neurotransmitter in Limulus eyes.

Histamine has been proposed as a photoreceptor neurotransmitter in two major groups of arthropods, the insects and the crustacea. In this study biochemical and immunocytochemical approaches were used to examine the synthesis, endogenous content, and cellular distribution of histamine in the visual system of the horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus, an ancient chelicerate arthropod. Studies with this animal have been critical to our understanding of the basic processes of vision. High-voltage paper electrophoresis was used to assay for histamine synthesis in Limulus tissues incubated with radiolabeled histidine; histamine synthesis was detected in the lateral, median, and ventral eyes and optic nerves and in the visual centers in the brain. Endogenous histamine, assayed as its orthophthalaldehyde derivative by high-performance liquid chromatography and electrochemical detection, was also detected in these tissues. Immunocytochemical analyses, with an antiserum directed against a protein conjugate of histamine, revealed histamine-like immunoreactivity in the somata of photoreceptors in each of the eyes and in the regions of the brain where the photoreceptors terminate. Histamine-like immunoreactivity was also intense in the cell bodies and axon collaterals of eccentric cells in the lateral eye and in eccentric cell projections in the brain. These results show that histamine is a major biogenic amine in the Limulus visual system, and they suggest that this amine is involved in transmitting visual information from the eyes to the brain and in lateral inhibition, a fundamental mechanism for processing visual information in the lateral eye.

Immunocytochemical localization of opsin, visual arrestin, myosin III, and calmodulin in Limulus lateral eye retinular cells and ventral photoreceptors.

The photoreceptors of the horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus are classical preparations for studies of the photoresponse and its modulation by circadian clocks. An extensive literature details their physiology and ultrastructure, but relatively little is known about their biochemical organization largely because of a lack of antibodies specific for Limulus photoreceptor proteins. We developed antibodies directed against Limulus opsin, visual arrestin, and myosin III, and we have used them to examine the distributions of these proteins in the Limulus visual system. We also used a commercial antibody to examine the distribution of calmodulin in Limulus photoreceptors. Fixed frozen sections of lateral eye were examined with conventional fluorescence microscopy; ventral photoreceptors were studied with confocal microscopy. Opsin, visual arrestin, myosin III, and calmodulin are all concentrated at the photosensitive rhabdomeral membrane, which is consistent with their participation in the photoresponse. Opsin and visual arrestin, but not myosin III or calmodulin, are also concentrated in extra-rhabdomeral vesicles thought to contain internalized rhabdomeral membrane. In addition, visual arrestin and myosin III were found widely distributed in the cytosol of photoreceptors, suggesting that they have functions in addition to their roles in phototransduction. Our results both clarify and raise new questions about the functions of opsin, visual arrestin, myosin III, and calmodulin in photoreceptors and set the stage for future studies of the impact of light and clock signals on the structure and function of photoreceptors.

Mutagenicity and chemistry of N-nitroso-N-(p-substituted-benzyl)methylamines.

The relative mutagenicities of N-nitroso-N-(p-substituted-benzyl)methylamines in Salmonella typhimurium TA 1535 were tested in order to determine whether biological activity is affected by the electron density at a nitrosamine alpha carbon. The order of potency was as follows: X = Cl greater than CN greater than Br greater than NO2 greater than H greater than CH3O greater than CH3 greater than F much greater than COOH. No direct correlation was apparent, nor was there any obvious correlation between biological activity and the extent of base-catalyzed hydrogen-deuterium exchange at the alpha carbons.

Quantitative structure-activity relationship of the mutagenicity of substituted N-nitroso-N-benzylmethylamines: possible implications for carcinogenicity.

The relative mutagenicities of substituted N-nitroso-N-benzylmethylamines have been reexamined from a quantitative structure-activity relationship point of view. Most of the compounds were mutagenic toward Salmonella typhimurium TA 1535 with Aroclor-induced male hamster liver S9 activation. The dose-response data were subjected to a multiple linear regression equation calculated in a stepwise manner, which found that the differences in mutagenicities could be explained primarily by differences in the three-bond path molecular connectivity index, with smaller contributions from sigma and pi. Moreover, a polynomial regression analysis showed that the maximum mutagenicity could be explained by an optimal amount of electron withdrawal by the substituent which would cause a weakening, or activation, of the methylene C-H bond. The possible relevance of these observations to carcinogenesis is discussed.

A comparison of mutagenic and carcinogenic activities of aniline mustards.

A set of 15 derivatives of aniline mustard (I) was tested to give a quantitative measure of mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium TA-1535 and TA-100 and also carcinogenicity as lung tumors in strain-A mice. The structural variation in the set was chosen to minimize collinearity between hydrophobic, electronic, and molar refractive properties. By these measures, there was not a direct relationship between mutagenicity and carcinogenicity; in fact, since the 4-OPh analogue ranked highest in mutagenicity and among the lowest in carcinogenicity, while the reverse was noted for the 3,5-(NHCONH2)2 analogue, an inverse relationship was marginally significant. S-9 activation was required in the Ames test using TA-100, and the dose-response curve, prior to toxicity, appeared biphasic.

Correlation of bacterial mutagenicity and hamster cell transformation with tumorigenicity induced by 2,4-toluenediamine.

In the presence of rat liver microsome enzymes, 2,4-toluenediamine (TDA) was mutagenic for several tester strains of Salmonella typhimurium. TDA induced morphological transformation in an in vitro carcinogenesis system using secondary culture target cells prepared from cryopreserved primary Syrian hamster embryo cells. These results now correlate bacterial mutagenicity and in vitro morphological transformation with the reported tumorigenicity of this compound.

Discharge function and length of stay for patients with stroke are predicted by lower extremity muscle force on admission to rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the relative value of lower extremity muscle strength as a predictor of discharge function and length of stay of patients with stroke. METHODS: We studied 72 patients undergoing inpatient rehabilitation after a stroke and documented their outcome using length of stay and function [as measured by the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) at discharge]. RESULTS: Knee-extension force and the total force of four lower extremity muscle actions (hip flexion, knee extension, knee flexion, and ankle dorsiflexion) were correlated significantly with discharge FIM and length of stay. The correlations involving the actions of the weaker side were higher. Admission FIM was also correlated significantly with discharge FIM and length of stay. Previous stroke and age were correlated significantly with discharge FIM but not length of stay. The set of variables offering the best explanation of discharge FIM (R = 0.867) was admission FIM, admission FIM squared, age, and total force of the weaker side. The set of variables offering the best explanation of length of stay (R = 0.812) was knee-extension force of the weaker side squared, admission FIM, admission FIM squared, and age. CONCLUSIONS: Lower extremity muscle force of the weaker side on admission has value as a predictor of function at discharge and length of stay for patients with stroke admitted to inpatient rehabilitation. Muscle force, therefore, is a reasonable target of measurement and treatment. Knowledge of muscle force on admission can assist clinicians, patients, families, and others to anticipate patient outcomes after rehabilitation.