Results of rat Pig-a/PIGRET assay with a single dose regimen of 1,3-propane sultone and 2-acetyl aminofluorene.

The Pig-a assay is a useful in vivo mutation detecting test and is easier to perform than the in vivo transgenic mutation assay. This assay is now recognized to be able to detect a number of mutagenic chemicals administered to rats in sub-acute or sub-chronic dose studies. The present investigation was conducted to evaluate the usefulness of peripheral blood Pig-a assays with total red blood cells (RBC Pig-a assay) and with reticulocytes (PIGRET assay) using two genotoxic rodent carcinogens, 1,3-propane sultone (1,3-PS) and 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF). Male rats were orally administered a single dose of each test compound, and both the RBC Pig-a and PIGRET assays were performed using flow cytometry to measure the Pig-a mutant frequency (MF) before and after dosing on Days 8, 15 and 29. In the experiment with 1,3-PS, significant increases in Pig-a MF were observed from Day 15 and Day 8 in the RBC Pig-a and PIGRET assays, respectively. The results of both assays demonstrated that the increases in Pig-a MF were detectable after a single treatment with 1,3-PS. Furthermore, the difference in the kinetics of the increase in Pig-a MF between the RBC Pig-a and PIGRET assays with 1,3-PS suggests that the PIGRET assay has an advantage in detecting the mutant erythrocytes earlier than the RBC Pig-a assay. In contrast, no significant increases were observed in the Pig-a assays using either RBC or reticulocytes with 2-AAF. The negative results in both assays with 2-AAF may indicate the limitation of the single dose method; however, further investigation at higher doses is necessary to determine limitation of the single dose method.

The effect of hyperglycemia on the pharmacokinetics of valproic acid studied by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

The effects of hyperglycemia on the pharmacokinetics of valproic acid (VPA) were examined by time-concentration profiles of plasma VPA accompanied with blood glucose (BG) changing. In addition, time-concentration profiles of plasma free fatty acids (FFAs) were also obtained to examine the interaction between VPA and FFAs in vivo. For the experiments in vivo, normal rats, given multiple doses of maltose orally, and diabetic rats, which were made to maintain hyperglycemia, were used. Plasma VPA and FFA were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-ECD) systems based on the reduction of quinone for the selective determination of acids, respectively. BG was determined by pocket-size glucose meter. The maximum plasma concentrations (Cmax) of VPA in normal rats given multiple doses of maltose orally and in diabetic rats were remarkably decreased in comparison with those in the control rats. From the present study, it was shown that the metabolism of plasma VPA is accelerated under hyperglycemia. Moreover, we also found that VPA was preferentially metabolized in comparison with the plasma FFA in vivo.

An international validation study of a Bhas 42 cell transformation assay for the prediction of chemical carcinogenicity.

The Bhas 42 cell transformation assay is a sensitive short-term system for predicting chemical carcinogenicity. Bhas 42 cells were established from BALB/c 3T3 cells by the transfection of v-Ha-ras gene and postulated to have acquired an initiated state in the two-stage carcinogenesis theory. The Bhas 42 cell transformation assay is capable of detecting both tumor-initiating and tumor-promoting activities of chemical carcinogens. The full assay protocol consists of two components, the initiation assay and the promotion assay, to detect the initiating activity and the promoting activity, respectively. An international study was carried out to validate this cell transformation assay in which six laboratories from three countries participated. Twelve coded chemicals were examined in total and each chemical was tested by three laboratories. In the initiation assay, concordant results were obtained by three laboratories for eight out of ten chemicals and in the promotion assay, concordant results were achieved for ten of twelve chemicals. The positive results were obtained in all three laboratories with the following chemicals: 2-acetylaminofluorene was positive in both initiation and promotion assays; dibenz[a,h]anthracene was positive in the initiation assay; sodium arsenite, lithocholic acid, cadmium chloride, mezerein and methapyrilene hydrochloride were positive in the promotion assay. o-Toluidin hydrochloride was positive in the both assays in two of the three laboratories. d-Mannitol, caffeine and l-ascorbic acid were negative in both assays in all the laboratories, and anthracene was negative in both assays in two of the three laboratories except one laboratory obtaining positive result in the promotion assay. Consequently, the Bhas 42 cell transformation assay correctly discriminated all six carcinogens and two tumor promoters from four non-carcinogens. Thus, the present study demonstrated that the Bhas 42 cell transformation assay is transferable and reproducible between laboratories and applicable to the prediction of chemical carcinogenicity. In addition, by comparison of the present results with intra-laboratory data previously published, within-laboratory reproducibility using the Bhas 42 cell transformation assay was also confirmed.

1950 MHz IMT-2000 field does not activate microglial cells in vitro.

Given the widespread use of the cellular phone today, investigation of potential biological effects of radiofrequency (RF) fields has become increasingly important. In particular, much research has been conducted on RF effects on brain function. To examine any biological effects on the central nervous system (CNS) induced by 1950 MHz modulation signals, which are controlled by the International Mobile Telecommunication-2000 (IMT-2000) cellular system, we investigated the effect of RF fields on microglial cells in the brain. We assessed functional changes in microglial cells by examining changes in immune reaction-related molecule expression and cytokine production after exposure to a 1950 MHz Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) RF field, at specific absorption rates (SARs) of 0.2, 0.8, and 2.0 W/kg. Primary microglial cell cultures prepared from neonatal rats were subjected to an RF or sham field for 2 h. Assay samples obtained 24 and 72 h after exposure were processed in a blind manner. Results showed that the percentage of cells positive for major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II, which is the most common marker for activated microglial cells, was similar between cells exposed to W-CDMA radiation and sham-exposed controls. No statistically significant differences were observed between any of the RF field exposure groups and the sham-exposed controls in percentage of MHC class II positive cells. Further, no remarkable differences in the production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were observed between the test groups exposed to W-CDMA signal and the sham-exposed negative controls. These findings suggest that exposure to RF fields up to 2 W/kg does not activate microglial cells in vitro.