The ability of certain antimutagenic agents to prevent development of antibiotic resistance.

Resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents has now become a prominent fact of contemporary life. It is believed that poor patient compliance, e.g. interrupted or premature cessation of therapy; and misuse or abuse of antibiotics, e.g. wrong antibiotic or insufficient dose, play important roles in resistance development. We present evidence that, this form of resistance often stems from spontaneous mutations accompanied by the positive selecting pressure of the doses of antibiotics being between the MIC and MBC levels. A number of antimutagenic agents, e.g. green tea catechins, and other antioxidants, etc. are able to suppress the emergence of resistance. In many cases, these agents are capable of exerting these effects at doses which by themselves produce no visible effect on growth. In a number of cases antimutagenic substances capable of preventing resistance emergence are present in normal food stuffs. These effects are exerted against resistance to tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, macrolides, beta-lactams, aminoglycosides and the like. The implications of these laboratory findings for practical chemotherapy are discussed.

Role of antimutagens/anticarcinogens in cancer prevention.

Recently it has become increasingly clear that chemicals found in our foods and beverages can prevent the genetic damage that leads to cancer initiation. Such substances may also affect subsequent events in the pathways that lead to cancer, and may have the potential to inhibit the mutations that allow tumor cells to become resistant to antitumor agents. We describe here the antimutagenic potential of Glabrene analogs against EMS-induced mutations utilizing modified Ames tests in S. typhimurium TA 100 and E. coli JC 5088. Results of studies of the ability of well-known antioxidants such as EGCG and related compounds to prevent drug resistance mutations in microorganisms are described, and their possible significance in the prevention of chemotherapeutic drug-resistance in tumor cells is discussed.

Structure-antimutagenic activity relationship study of plicatin B.

A systematic structure-activity relationship study of plicatin B (1), an antimutagenic constituent of Psoralea juncea, was undertaken with a view toward elucidating its chemical mode of action and possibly optimizing its antimutagenic activity during the process. Compound 1 and its related analogues were examined for their antimutagenic activity against mutations induced by ethyl methanesulfonate, a direct acting mutagen and alkylating agent, in Salmonella typhimurium strain TA100, utilizing the modified Ames test protocol. The dihydro analogue 3 resulting from saturation of the conjugated alkene double bond of 1 was found to exhibit reduced cytotoxicity and enhanced efficacy relative to the parent compound. This result serves preliminarily to exclude a Michael acceptor role of the alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl moiety in connection with its antimutagenic activity.

Antimutagenic/antioxidant activity of green tea components and related compounds.

The ability of green tea components and other antioxidant compounds to function as antimutagens/antioxidants has been well established, and their role in cancer prevention is supported by numerous epidemiological studies. We have utilized modified Ames tests, superoxide scavenging assays, and assays for protection against DNA scissions to compare and contrast the protective effects of various teas and commercial and laboratory-isolated tea components to those produced by compounds such as resveratrol, selenium, curcumin, vitamins C and E, quercetin dihydrate, sulforaphane, ellagic acid dihydrate, glutathione reduced, trolox, butylated hydroxanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). In Ames tests, employing hydrogen peroxide as a mutagen, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) produced the highest level of protection of all antioxidants tested. Measurement of protection against DNA scissions produced results that again showed that EGCG produced the strongest protective effects. In scavenging assays using a xanthine-xanthine oxidase (enzymatic system), epicatechin gallate (ECG) showed the highest scavenging potential. In a nonenzymatic (phenazine methosulfate-NADH) oxidizing system, EGCG once again showed the strongest effects. The implications of these and similar results are discussed in relation to cancer prevention and prevention of drug/antibiotic resistance.

Antimutagenic activity of extracts from Japanese eggplant.

Using the Salmonella/microsome assay, the antimutagenic effects of specific components of the extracts from eggplant fruits were investigated. The eggplant fruit juice exhibited an antimutagenic activity against 3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole (Trp-P-2) induced mutagenicity. In some of the fractions extracted with several organic solvents (acetone, petroleum ether, ethyl acetate; and methanol), the activity was recognized. No mutagenicity or toxicity for Salmonella typhimurium TA98 in the presence of S9 mixture was observed with any of the extracts. It is suggested that there are multiple components of the activities that exist in the eggplant fruit. We isolated lutein from the 84% methanol (methanol/water, v/v) layer, pheophorbide or chlorophyllide from the 70% methanol layer and tannins containing sugar-moieties from the water layer. Pheophytin a and b, Mg-free derivatives of chlorophyll a and b, were isolated from the petroleum ether layer as possible antimutagens. The pheophytin a with S9 mix inhibited by 30-40% the mutagenicity of Trp-P-2.

Natural antimutagenic agents.

Following a brief review of recent discoveries in the field of natural antimutagenic and tumor chemopreventive agents, contemporary findings in the author's laboratories employing the direct acting mutagen, ethyl methanesulfonate, in modified Ames tests and eukaryotic murine FM3A mammary tumor cells modified to be subject to thymidine-less death are described to illustrate the underlying principles. The EMS studies are illustrated with the isolation of the novel antimutagen, plicatin B, from the medicinal plants, Psoralea juncaea and P. plicata. The FM3A studies are carried out with extracts of Styrax asiatica, a plant previously studied extensively with the EMS system. The FM3A findings closely parallel the earlier work with EMS showing that the responsible agents, cinnamic acid, cinnamoyl ricinoleate and cinnamoyl cinnamate are effective both in prokaryotic and eukaryotic tests and that the new FM3A assay system has useful properties for screening and assay of novel antimutagenic agents.

Antimutagenic activity of extracts of leaves of four common edible vegetable plants in Nigeria (west Africa).

Organic solvent extracts of leaves of 4 common edible vegetable plants--Bryophyllum pinnatum, Dialium guincense, Ocimum gratissimum and Vernonia amygdalina--had inhibitory activity for His- to His+ reverse-mutations induced by ethyl methanesulfonate acting on Salmonella typhimurium TA100. The concentrated ethyl acetate, methanol and petroleum ether extracts were heat-stable when dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide. The Bryophyllum ethyl acetate extract was fractionated into alkaloidal/water-soluble, acids, polar lipid and non-polar lipid fractions. The polar and non-polar lipid fractions inhibited reversion mutations induced by ethyl methanesulfonate acting on TA100 or TA102, and were also active against reversions induced by 4-nitro-O-phenylenediamine and 2-aminofluorene in TA98. The alkaloidal/water-soluble and the acid fractions had no appreciable antimutagenic activities.

Extracellular interception of mutagens.

Extracellular interception of mutagens by excreted enzymes or by chemical agents that react with or bind to formed mutagens provides an important means of defense against chemical mutagens/carcinogens. Kada and Shimoi have classified molecules that function in this manner as "desmutagens," and many of them are natural cellular metabolites. Among the specific mechanisms that such agents may employ are: prevention of the activation of "promutagens" to mutagens; stimulation of enzymes (e.g., glutathione-S-transferase) that catalyze the binding/inactivation of damaging electrophiles; direct binding and concomitant inactivation of promutagens or mutagens; interference with uptake of mutagens into cells; etc. De Flora and Ramel have provided an excellent discussion of the mechanisms of these agents and a proposed classification scheme. Drawing on work from our own laboratories and other recent examples in the literature, several examples of mechanistic approaches to these studies using natural plant-derived materials, e.g., humic acid, Glycyrrhiza glabra extract, glutathione, and bioflavonoids, are also described. Antioxidants and agents that conjugate electrophiles will be among the modes of action described for obtaining the goal of intercepting mutagens/carcinogens.

Glycyrrhiza glabra extract as an effector of interception in Escherichia coli K12+.

Glycyrrhiza glabra polar lipid extract contains a number of flavonoids and related chemical compounds. Studies on the effectiveness of Glycyrrhiza glabra polar lipid extract in intercepting reactive molecules generated from the illumination of the photosensitizers rose bengal and phenosafranin indicate that it is effective in preventing cytotoxicity against E. coli K12+ in a dose-related fashion using illuminated rose bengal. Since only a modest scavenging of singlet oxygen generated from phenosafranin is observed, the effects of the extracts are less related to singlet oxygen-mediated oxidation of substrate (type II reactions) than non-singlet oxygen-mediated oxidation of substrate (type I reactions). Elevated levels of glutathione observed in exponentially growing cells of E. coli K12 were also observed.

Antimutagenicity of secondary metabolites from higher plants.

Higher plants contain both mutagens and antimutagens and are susceptible to mutagenesis but screening programs for detection of antimutagenesis rarely employ higher plant systems. Short-term bacterial and mammalian tissue culture systems are the norm. Using modified screening tests for detecting antimutagenic agents, higher plants have been shown to contain a variety of structurally novel antimutagenic agents. Systematic bioassay-directed methodology resulted in the isolation in pure form and biological and chemical characterization of the responsible individual active components from various plants. The methodology in use is illustrated by the isolation of cinnamic acid, cinnamyl cinnamate and cinnamyl ricinoleate as the active constituents of the classic medicinal plant product, Styrax asiatica. The methods which may be used to reveal structure-activity relationships and to explore putative molecular modes of action are illustrated with excerpts from the same study.

Specificity of antimutagens against chemical mutagens in microbial systems.

Procedures have been developed which enable the study of antimutagenic specificity of certain antimutagenic chemicals against chemical mutagens/carcinogens. Modifications of the Ames Salmonella assay, the Bacillis subtilis rec assay of Kada and co-workers, and the Luria-Delbrück fluctuation test, along with procedures we have developed utilizing E. coli K12 strain ND160 developed by Dworkin, all are employed in these studies. Using these procedures, a number of naturally-occurring compounds and/or their derivatives have been shown to produce antimutagenic specificity either against changes at different specific genetic loci or against activity of specific chemical mutagens such as nitrofurazone, ethyl methanesulfonate, or caffeine. Compounds that demonstrate this activity include cinnamaldehyde, chlorophyllin, an extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra, spermine, and mixtures of guanosine and cytidine. The data demonstrate that some antimutagens act specifically against spontaneous mutations, while others inhibit the development of chemically-induced mutations at specific loci. These results have potential application to the prevention of chemical toxicological damage.

Effects of the antimutagen cinnamaldehyde on reversion and survival of selected Salmonella tester strains.

The antimutagenic activity of trans-cinnamaldehyde (C6H5CH = CHCHO) on chemically induced mutagenesis has been shown in E. coli. Using the Ames Salmonella typhimurium tester strains TA1535 (hisG46 uvrB rfa) and TA100 (TA1535/pKM101), the effects of cinnamaldehyde on spontaneous reversions and reversions induced by 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide(4NQO) and ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) have been examined. To observe the effect of cinnamaldehyde in the absence of functional muc genes, a third strain, TA1535/pGW201 (pKM101 muc140: :Tn5) was included in the testing. Modifications of the standard Ames test procedures and direct-plating techniques were employed to study the "antimutagenic" response exerted by cinnamaldehyde. In all strains tested, concentrations of cinnamaldehyde up to 25 micrograms/ml slightly decreased the number of spontaneous reversions and induced reversions were more markedly reduced. The decreases in the numbers of 4NQO-induced revertants were greater than those decreases which occurred for EMS-induced reversions. There was no effect on viability in 1% (v/v) nutrient broth supplemented minimal medium containing 5-25 micrograms/ml of cinnamaldehyde. Cinnamaldehyde did not display any mucAB dependent or independent specificity against the mutagens used. On minimal medium supplemented with histidine and biotin, concentrations of cinnamaldehyde above 10 micrograms/ml were lethal for the strains tested. When the test medium was supplemented with 1-5% (v/v) liquid nutrient broth, viability was not affected at concentrations up to 25 micrograms/ml. For both TA100 and TA1535 the presence of 20 micrograms/ml of cinnamaldehyde in 1% (v/v) liquid nutrient broth-supplemented minimal glucose broth extended the lag phase for 2-4 h with no effect on survival. Depending on the test procedure employed, decreases in numbers of revertants may reflect lethality rather than antimutagenesis. When used to test for antimutagenesis rather than mutagenesis, modifications of the standard Ames test procedure may mimic an antimutagenic response due to a decrease in the total number of revertants seen even though enough cells survive to produce a background lawn.