Antimutagenic activity of green tea and black tea extracts studied in a dynamic in vitro gastrointestinal model.

An in vitro gastrointestinal model, which simulates the conditions in the human digestive tract, was used to determine potential antimutagenic activity of extracts of black tea and green tea. In this paper, results are presented on the availability for absorption of potential antimutagenic compounds present in tea and on the influence of the food matrix on this activity. Between 60 and 180min after the tea was introduced into the model, antimutagenic activity was recovered from the jejunal compartment by means of dialysis: the dialysate appeared to inhibit the mutagenicity of the food mutagen MeIQx in the direct plate assay with Salmonella typhimurium (Ames test). The maximum inhibition was measured at 2h after the start of the experiment and was comparable for black tea and green tea extract. To determine the influence of food matrices on the antimutagenic activity of tea, the model was loaded with black tea together with milk or a homogenized standard breakfast. The maximum inhibition observed with black tea was reduced by 22, 42 and 78% in the presence of whole milk, semi-skimmed milk, and skimmed milk, respectively. Whole milk and skimmed milk abolished the antimutagenic activity of green tea by more than 90%; for semi-skimmed milk the inhibition was more than 60%. When a homogenized breakfast was added into the model together with the black tea extract, the antimutagenic activity was completely eliminated. When tea and MeIQx were added together into the digestion model, MeIQx mutagenicity was efficiently inhibited, with green tea showing a slightly stronger antimutagenic activity than black tea. In this case, the addition of milk had only a small inhibiting effect on the antimutagenicity. Antioxidant capacity and the concentration of catechins were also measured in the jejunal dialysates. The reduction in antimutagenic activity corresponded with reduction in antioxidant capacity and with a decrease of concentration of three catechins, viz. catechin, epigallocatechin gallate and epigallocatechin. The in vitro gastrointestinal model appears to be a useful tool to study the antimutagenicity of food components.

Application of a dynamic in vitro gastrointestinal tract model to study the availability of food mutagens, using heterocyclic aromatic amines as model compounds.

The TNO gastro-Intestinal tract Model (TIM) is a dynamic computer-controlled in vitro system that mimics the human physiological conditions in the stomach and small intestine. In the current TIM physiological parameters such as pH, temperature, peristaltic movements, secretion of digestion enzymes, bile and pancreatic juices, and absorption of digested products-by removal through dialysis-was simulated. Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAA; viz. IQ, MeIQ, MeIQx and PhIP) were used as model compounds for food mutagens, and the passage through TIM was investigated for each of these compounds separately. Subsequently, the influence of a matrix and different rates of passage on the availability for absorption and distribution were studied in experiments with prepared meat, supplemented with MeIQx. Samples taken at various time points from the jejunal and ileal dialysates and from the lumen at the end of the small intestine (ileal delivery) were tested for the presence of mutagenic activity in the Ames test with Salmonella typhimurium strain TA98 as indicator, in the presence of mammalian metabolic activation (rat S9 mix). The results show that, comparable with the human in vivo situation, all four HAA are quickly removed (approx. 50% in 2 hr; approx. 95% in 6 hr) and mainly recovered from the lumen into the jejunal and ileal dialysates (94% of recovery). Only 5+/-1.5% is recovered in the chyme at the end of the small intestine. When MeIQx was added to meat, its availability for absorption was slower, although the influence of the gastrointestinal passage time on the availability of MeIQx was more pronounced than this matrix effect. More MeIQx was found in the jejunal dialysate (23%; P<0.01) and less in the ileal delivery (8%; P<0.01) when simulating the gastrointestinal passage of solid meals was compared to simulating that of liquid meals. The present experiments demonstrate that TIM can be applied to study in vitro the availability of heterocyclic aromatic amines in the gastrointestinal tract. More generally, these studies indicate that TIM shows promise as a useful tool for various research purposes dealing with the availability for absorption of mutagenic as well as antimutagenic components in food.

DNA adducts, mutant frequencies, and mutation spectra in various organs of lambda lacZ mice exposed to ethylating agents.

To investigate tissue-specific relations between DNA adducts and mutagenesis in vivo, lambda lacZ transgenic mice were treated i.p. with N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU), diethylnitrosamine (DEN), and ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS). In liver, bone marrow, and brain DNA from mice sacrificed at several time points after treatment O6-ethylguanine (O6-EtG) and N7-ethylguanine (N7-EtG) levels were determined as well as the mutant frequency (MF) in lacZ. In liver DNA of ENU- and DEN-treated mice, the bulk of O6-EtG was removed at 3 days after treatment, while the MF continued to increase thereafter. This suggests that O6-EtG is not the major premutagenic lesion in the liver. Indeed, sequence analysis of mutants showed only 24% GC-->AT transitions, consistent with the O6-EtG lesion, and 28% TA-->AT transversions, expected from O2-ethylthymine. In bone marrow after ENU treatment, a maximum mutation induction occurred at 3 days post-treatment, of which 43% were GC-->AT mutations and 22% were TA-->AT mutations. This suggests that in bone marrow O6-EtG may be a major premutagenic lesion at the 3-day time point. In liver and bone marrow, EMS treatment gave rise to a high level of N7-EtG and a low level of O6-EtG but no increase in MF. No adducts or mutation induction were observed in bone marrow of DEN-treated mice. No MF increase was observed in the brain of either ENU- or EMS-treated mice, although O6- and N7-adducts were present.

Formation and persistence of O6-ethylguanine in genomic and transgene DNA in liver and brain of lambda(lacZ) transgenic mice treated with N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea.

LacZ transgenic mice are suitable for short-term mutagenicity studies in vivo. Mutagenicity in these mice is determined in the lacZ transgene. Since the lacZ gene is of bacterial origin the question has been raised whether DNA-adduct formation and repair in the transgene are comparable to those in total genomic DNA. Mice were treated with N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) and killed at several time points following treatment. Some mice were pretreated with O6-benzylguanine to inactivate the repair protein O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (AGT). O6-ethylguanine (O6-EtG) was determined in lacZ in liver and brain by means of a monoclonal antibody-based immunoaffinity assay. In addition, O6-EtG and N7-ethylguanine (N7-EtG) were assayed in total genomic DNA of liver and brain with an immunoslotblot procedure. In liver, the initial O6-EtG level in total genomic DNA was 1.6 times that in lacZ. The extent of repair of O6-EtG during the first 1.5 h after treatment was 2.1 times that in lacZ. At later time points, O6-EtG repair was the same. N7-EtG repair in genomic DNA was evident. In contrast to the liver, little repair of O6-EtG in total genomic and lacZ DNA occurred in the brain while N7-EtG was repaired. No initial difference in O6-EtG levels were found in lacZ and genomic brain DNA. These findings indicate that in the liver, total genomic DNA is more accessible than lacZ to ENU and/or the AGT protein, during the first 1.5 h following treatment. Because the difference in O6-EtG levels in the transgene and genomic DNA in the liver is restricted to the first 1.5 h after treatment, while the fixation of mutations occurs at later time points, O6-EtG-induced mutagenesis most likely is also very similar in both types of DNA.

N7-Methylguanine and O(6)-methylguanine levels in DNA of white blood cells from cancer patients treated with dacarbazine.

Abstract Methyl-DNA adducts are induced by a number of lifestyle, environmental and occupational carcinogens, however knowledge about their kinetics is scarce. Here, N7-methylguanine (N7-MeGua) and O(6)-methylguanine (O(6)-MeGua) levels were determined in the DNA of white blood cells from eight cancer patients treated hr with the antitumour drug dacarbazine (DTIC). Five of the patients were treated with the drug as a single agent (a single dose of 800 mg m(-2)) and three on three successive days with dacarbazine (225 mg m(-2) day(-1)) in combination with other drugs. The data indicate that maximum adduct levels are reached at 4-8 h after treatment and that the amount of N7-MeGua is at least 20-fold higher than that of O(6)-MeGua. The half-life of N7-MeGua is 40-96 h and that of O(6)-MeGua 25-27 h. Following treatment on three consecutive days, an accumulation of N7-MeGua was observed but not of O(6)-MeGua. The data show substantial interindividual differences in adduct levels but not in the ratio of N7/O(6)-MeGua. This may reflect differences in the metabolism of dacarbazine or in repair capacities.

Comparison of various immunochemical assays for the detection of ethylene oxide-DNA adducts with monoclonal antibodies against imidazole ring-opened N7-(2-hydroxyethyl)guanosine: application in a biological monitoring study.

Monoclonal antibodies have been developed for the analysis of the predominant lesion in DNA induced by ethylene oxide (EtOx), namely N7-(2-hydroxyethyl)guanine (N7-EtOHGua). Two monoclonal antibodies raised against imidazole ring-opened N7-(2-hydroxyethyl)guanine (RON7-EtOHGua), N7EO-E and N7EO-11, and the previously isolated antibody N7E-102 were characterized by competitive ELISA with various inhibitors. N7EO-E and N7EO-11 recognize 2-hydroxyethyl lesions better than ethyl or methyl lesions, while N7E-102 recognizes 2-hydroxyethyl and ethyl modifications equally well. All antibodies show a preference for imidazole ring-opened adducts, bind better to adducts in DNA compared to alkylated nucleosides or bases and bind 10(6)- to 3 x 10(6)-fold less well to unmodified DNA. The sensitivity of detection of RON7-EtOHGua in DNA and in the nuclei of cells in situ by antibody N7EO-E was investigated in several assays. The immunoslot blot assay was the most sensitive method (0.34 RON7-EtOHGua per 10(6) nucleotides was detectable), followed by competitive ELISA, direct ELISA and in situ detection by immunofluorescence microscopy. The immunoslot blot assay was used to analyse N7-EtOHGua levels in white blood cell DNA from individuals exposed to EtOx (2-5 p.p.m.) and of controls. This exposure did not result in a statistically significant increase in the N7-EtOHGua level.

Immunochemical quantitation of adducts induced in DNA by cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) and analysis of adduct-related DNA-unwinding.

Antibodies elicited against the haptens cis-Pt(NH3)2dGuodGMP and its ribo-analog, both covalently coupled to bovine serum albumin, recognize adducts of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (cis-DDP) in DNA. Antibody-binding to cis-DDP-DNA strongly depends on the accessibility of the adducts to the antibodies. In double-stranded cis-DDP-DNA with low Pt: nucleotide ratios (rb's), this accessibility is enhanced by unwinding of the cis-DDP-DNA, e.g. by heat-denaturation. An unwinding effect is also induced by the cis-DDP treatment itself. A260nm readings of cis-DDP-DNA samples indicate an increased denaturation of the DNA at increasing Pt-contents. The data obtained after heat-denaturation of the same samples show a growing capability to renaturation when the rb-values increase from 0 to 0.04; at 0.04 less than rb less than 0.18 the renaturation effect gradually disappears. In the competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the cis-DDP-adducts in heat-denatured DNA are detected in the pmol range; in DNA-digests, however, they are recognized in fmol amounts. For the individual Pt-containing (oligo)nucleotides the amounts causing 50% inhibition in the ELISA were established for the two anti-sera; they were 13.3 +/- 3.8 (fmol +/- S.D.) and 5.4 +/- 1.8 for cis-Pt(NH3)2d(GMP)2; 15.5 +/- 5.4 and 4.0 +/- 1.5 for cis-Pt(NH3)2d(pGpG); (2.6 +/- 1.1) X 10(3) and (2.0 +/- 1.0) X 10(3) for cis-Pt(NH3)2d(pApG); (5.6 +/- 1.9) X 10(3) and (2.9 +/- 0.4) X 10(3) for Pt(NH3)3dGMP. Pt-adducts in a trans-DDP-DNA digest are recognized in pmol amounts and dGMP in nmol quantitatives. Finally, the usefulness of these antibodies for the detection and quantitation of individual cis-DDP-adducts in cis-DDP-DNA digests was demonstrated.