Integrating habits and practices data for soaps, cosmetics and air care products into an existing aggregate exposure model.

In order to accurately assess aggregate exposure to a fragrance material in consumers, data are needed on consumer habits and practices, as well as the concentration of the fragrance material in those products. The present study describes the development of Phase 2 Creme RIFM model by expanding the previously developed Phase 1 model to include an additional six product types. Using subject-matching algorithms, the subjects in the Phase 1 Creme RIFM database were paired with subjects in the SUPERB and BodyCare surveys based on age and gender. Consumption of the additional products was simulated to create a seven day diary allowing full data integration in a consistent format. The inhalation route was also included for air care and other products where a fraction of product used is inhaled, derived from the RIFM 2-box model. The expansion of the Phase 1 Creme RIFM model has resulted in a more extensive and refined model, which covers a broader range of product categories and now, includes all relevant routes of exposure. An evaluation of the performance of the model has been carried out in an accompanying publication to this one.

Novel database for exposure to fragrance ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products.

Exposure of fragrance ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products to the population can be determined by way of a detailed and robust survey. The frequency and combinations of products used at specific times during the day will allow the estimation of aggregate exposure for an individual consumer, and to the sample population. In the present study, habits and practices of personal care and cosmetic products have been obtained from market research data for 36,446 subjects across European countries and the United States in order to determine the exposure to fragrance ingredients. Each subject logged their product uses, time of day and body application sites in an online diary for seven consecutive days. The survey data did not contain information on the amount of product used per occasion or body measurements, such as weight and skin surface area. Nevertheless, this was found from the literature where the likely amount of product used per occasion or body measurement could be probabilistically chosen from distributions of data based on subject demographics. The daily aggregate applied consumer product exposure was estimated based on each subject's frequency of product use, and Monte Carlo simulations of their likely product amount per use and body measurements. Statistical analyses of the habits and practices and consumer product exposure are presented, which show the robustness of the data and the ability to estimate aggregate consumer product exposure. Consequently, the data and modelling methods presented show potential as a means of performing ingredient safety assessments for personal care and cosmetics products.

Selective phagocytosis of crystalline metal sulfide particles and DNA strand breaks as a mechanism for the induction of cellular transformation.

Crystalline NiS, CuS, CoS2, and CdS particles were actively phagocytosed by cells and potently induced morphological transformation of Syrian hamster embryo cells in a concentration-dependent fashion. In contrast, the respective amorphous metal sulfide particles (amorphous NiS, CuS, CoS, and CdS) were not as actively phagocytosed by cultured cells and, in comparison to the crystalline form of these compounds, induced considerably less morphological transformation at both cytotoxic and noncytotoxic exposure levels. Chemical reduction of positively charged amorphous NiS with LiAlH4 resulted in active phagocytosis of these particles which was also associated with enhancement of cellular transformation. Crystalline but not amorphous NiS caused considerable strand breaks in the DNA of Chinese hamster ovary cells following 2 to 3 hr exposure at 10 micrograms/ml as determined by alkaline sucrose gradient techniques with subsequent determination of DNA molecular weight. Phagocytized inert particles such as latex beads did not induce transformation or DNA damage, suggesting that genotoxic dissolution products such as Ni2+ rather than the phagocytized particles are responsible for the observed DNA damage and cellular transformation. NiCl2 was about one-third to one-half as potent in inducing cellular transformation compared to crystalline NiS on a weight basis. These results correlate the selective phagocytosis of crystalline metal sulfides to their more potent activity in the induction of cellular transformation.

Effects of folate deficiency on the metastatic potential of murine melanoma cells.

Experiments were designed to measure the effect of folic acid deficiency on a major determinant of cancer lethality, the propensity to form metastases. Murine B16 melanoma cells (F10 strain) were grown in folate-deficient and -supplemented media. After 3 days, cells in the deficient medium had restricted proliferative capacity, low folate levels by bioassay, increased cell volume, abnormal deoxyuridine suppression tests, accumulation of cells in S phase by flow cytometry, and increased numbers of DNA strand breaks. These folate-deficient cells consistently initiated more pulmonary metastases than control cells when injected into host mice. Cell size did not appear to be a major factor in pulmonary metastasis formation. In vitro growth rates and cloning efficiencies were comparable for cells in both types of medium as was subcutaneous growth of tumors. We conclude that folate deficiency increases the metastatic potential of cultured melanoma cells.

The induction of DNA strand breakage by nickel compounds in cultured Chinese hamster ovary cells.

Both NiCl2 and crystalline alphaNiS induced DNA strand breaks in cultured Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Alkaline sucrose gradient analysis of [3H]thymidine radiolabelled DNA isolated from cells exposed to NiCl2 at 1 microgram/ml for only 2 h indicated a high degree of DNA strand breakage. Similarly crystalline alphaNiS caused substantial strand breakage at 1 microgram/ml following a 24-h treatment interval. These nickel compounds caused DNA strand breaks at concentrations which did not significantly impair normal cellular division. A concentration-dependent effect upon the number and average size of DNA fragments was obtained with both NiCl2 and crystalline alphaNiS. Since DNA strand breakage occurred at such low concentrations, these results suggest that nickel compounds which cause cellular transformation have highly selective and specific effects upon DNA structure.

Soluble and insoluble nickel compounds induce DNA repair synthesis in cultured mammalian cells.

The induction of DNA repair was investigated in cultured Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) cells and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells by cesium chloride equilibrium gradient sedimentation techniques following exposure to NiCl2, amorphous NiS, crystalline NiS and crystalline Ni3S2. Significant repair was induced in CHO cells by 1 microgram/ml of crystalline NiS following 24 h of treatment while 5 micrograms/ml caused more than twice the repair activity. In contrast amorphous NiS at 10 micrograms/ml for 24 h induced little repair in these cells. Similarly amorphous NiS did not induce repair at 5-10 micrograms/ml for 24 h in SHO cells while crystalline Ni3S2, and NiCl2 caused substantial induction of DNA repair synthesis at 10 micrograms/ml or 100 microM, respectively. These results demonstrate that nickel compounds which are potent transforming agents and induce damage to DNA also result in the induction of DNA repair. Repair synthesis was detected at concentrations of metal compounds which result in no detectable damage to DNA.

Assessment of the in vivo genotoxicity of 2-hydroxy 4-methoxybenzophenone.

The genotoxic potential of 2-hydroxy 4-methoxy-benzophenone (benzophenone-3, Bz-3), a commonly used sunscreen, has been evaluated previously with in vitro systems. Data from Salmonella studies (with and without activation) have been predominantly negative, but two reports have shown weakly positive results in a single bacterial strain under conditions of metabolic activation. In addition, Bz-3 has been reported to induce chromosome aberrations and equivocal results for sister chromatid exchange in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. We used the Drosophila somatic mutation and recombination test (SMART) and in vivo cytogenetics in rat bone marrow to define the potential for in vivo expression of this in vitro activity. For the SMART assay, larva from a mating of "multiple wing hair" (mwh) females with heterozygous "flare" (flr) males were exposed to 0, 3000, or 3500 ppm Bz-3 or 25 ppm dimethylnitrosamine (DMN, positive control) for 72 hr. A recombination between the mwh and flr genes produces twin wing spots, while events such as deletions produce single spots. None of the Bz-3-treated larva produced flies with significantly more single or multiple wing spots than controls. In contrast, DMN-treated larva produced flies with significantly more single or multiple wing spots than controls. The in vivo cytogenetic assay in rat bone marrow cells was conducted to evaluate the clastogenicity of Bz-3. Sprague-Dawley rats were treated by oral gavage with a single administration of 0.0, 0.5, 1.67, or 5 gm/kg Bz-3 or a single dose of 5 gm/kg/day Bz-3 for 5 consecutive days. Cyclophosphamide (CP) was the positive control and was administered at 20 mg/kg with both treatment regimens. Colchicine growth-arrested bone marrow cells were collected 8 and 12 hr after the single treatment and 12hr after the last daily treatment. Under either treatment protocol none of the Bz-3 concentrations caused any significant increase in chromosomal aberrations. Results from these two studies strongly support the conclusion that Bz-3 is not genotoxic in vivo.

DNA damage and chronic neuronal degenerations.

DNA plays an essential role not only in dividing cells, but also in postmitotic cells such as neurons. Accumulated damage to the nuclear DNA will result in damage to neuronal metabolism. There is suggestive evidence of altered DNA in ALS, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and of deficiency of DNA repair mechanisms in these age-related neuronal degenerations and in Huntington's disease. We suggest that these DNA abnormalities are more likely to be the cause of the diseases, rather than an effect of the disease process.

Repair of N-methylpurines in DNA from lymphocytes of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

We have previously reported reduced ability of ALS fibroblasts to repair genomic DNA damage produced by alkylating agents. This report presents our experience of studying DNA repair in lymphocytes from ALS patients. The repair of N-methylpurines produced by treatment with the alkylating agent, methyl methanesulfonate, was studied in T-lymphocytes from patients with sporadic and familial ALS, and appropriate controls. Repair of damage was quantitated by using alkaline elution for genomic DNA repair, and methoxyamine protection of abasic sites in DNA fragments for gene-specific repair in the dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) gene, at time points 0, 6 h and 24 h. No significant repair rate differences were observed between ALS and control lymphocytes in either genomic or gene-specific DNA repair. The possible reasons for the discrepancy with our earlier results in lymphocytes and fibroblasts are discussed.

Deficient DNA repair in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cells.

We studied survival and DNA repair capacity in cultured sporadic ALS and control skin fibroblasts after treatment with DNA damaging agents producing different types of lesions. Mean survival in ALS and control fibroblasts was similar after exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light, x-rays and mitomycin C (MMC). Both mean survival and mean unscheduled (repair) DNA synthesis (UDS) were significantly reduced in ALS fibroblasts following treatment with the alkylating agent methyl methane sulfonate (MMS). These data suggest that ALS cells are relatively deficient in the repair of alkylation damage, possibly of apurinic/apyrimidinic sites, and that they are not unduly sensitive to DNA damage produced by UV light, x-rays and MMC. Normal survival and UDS seen in some patients' cells after MMS treatment indicate a spectrum of repair efficiency, and suggest heterogeneity of the biochemical defect in ALS.

Characterization of DNA lesions produced by HgCl2 in cell culture systems.

HgCl2 is extremely cytotoxic to Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells in culture since a 1-h exposure to a 75- microM concentration of this compound reduced cell plating efficiency to 0 and cell growth was completely inhibited at 7.5 microM . The level of HgCl2 toxicity depended upon the culture incubation medium and has previously been shown to be inversely proportional to the extracellular concentration of metal chelating amino acids such as cysteine. Thus, HgCl2 toxicity in a minimal salts/glucose maintenance medium was about 10-fold greater than the toxicity in McCoy's culture medium. The HgCl2 toxicity in the latter medium was 3-fold greater than that in alpha-MEM which contains more of the metal chelating amino acids. When cells were exposed to HgCl2 there was a rapid and pronounced induction of single strand breaks in the DNA at time intervals and concentrations that paralleled the cellular toxicity. The DNA damage was shown to be true single strand breaks and not alkaline sensitive sites or double strand breaks by a variety of techniques. Consistent with the toxicity of HgCl2, the DNA damage under an equivalent exposure situation was more pronounced in the salts/glucose than in the McCoy's medium and more striking in the latter medium than in alpha-MEM. Most of the single strand breaks occurred within 1 h of exposure to the metal. We believe that the DNA damage caused by HgCl2 leads to cell death because the DNA single strand breaks are not readily repaired. DNA repair activity measured by CsCl density gradient techniques was elevated above the untreated levels at HgCl2 concentrations that produced little measurable binding of the metal to DNA or few single strand breaks assessed by the alkaline elution procedure. DNA repair activity decreased at HgCl2 concentrations that produced measurable DNA binding and single strand breaks. These irreversible interactions of HgCl2 with DNA may be responsible for its cytotoxic action in cells.

The relationship between DNA repair after alkylation damage and in vitro aging in human T-lymphocytes.

In vitro cultures of human peripheral blood lymphocytes, both unstimulated G0 cells as well as phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulated cells, have been used in the investigation of DNA repair following different types of damage, including that induced by ultraviolet light, ionizing radiation, and chemical agents. We report here repair of DNA damage in cultured normal human T-lymphocytes after treatment with the alkylating agents, N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) or methanesulfonate (MMS), as measured by the alkaline elution technique. T-lymphocytes cultured with different sources of T-cell growth factors (TCGFs) were shown to have similar repair levels, as measured by loss of single-strand breaks. However, diminished repair was observed with in vitro culture age when T-cells were cultured with PHA and TCGF for a 3-week period. Cell-cycle analysis performed on asynchronously growing cultures indicated that differential repair with in vitro aging was not cell-cycle-related. Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) was used to determine the percentages of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell subsets present during the in vitro culture periods. Cultures consisted primarily of CD4+ cells until day 20 when the percentage of CD8+ cells increased to approximately 50% of the T-cell population. Neither the absolute percentages of CD4+ and CD8+ cells not the CD4+/CD8+ ratios correlated with repair rates of cultured T-cells. Therefore, the observed decreases in the repair of alkylating agent-induced damage are not due solely to the change in the CD4+/CD8+ ratio.

Analysis of metal-induced DNA lesions and DNA-repair replication in mammalian cells.

The potency of several metal compounds in causing lesions in DNA either directly or by exposure of intact cultured cells has been examined using the neutral conditions of nucleoid gradient sedimentation. HgCl2 was clearly the most potent inducer of single-strand breakage when added to isolated nucleoids or when nucleoids were prepared from cells treated with this compound. CaCrO4 , however, caused DNA-strand breaks in nucleoids isolated from cells treated with this agent but did not induce DNA strand breaks when added directly to nucleoids. Although less potent than HgCl2, NiCl2 also caused significant single strand breakage in isolated nucleoids or in nucleoids prepared from cells treated with this metal. Since strand breakage of DNA in intact cells may occur secondary to activation of DNA-dependent nucleases during repair replication, CsCl gradient density sedimentation was utilized to examine whether repair processes were induced by exposure of cells to NiCl2, HgCl2 and CaCrO4 . CaCrO4 and NiCl2 induced substantial DNA-repair activity at concentrations and exposure times where DNA lesions could not be detected whereas HgCl2 induced a 10-fold lower level of DNA-repair activity compared to CaCrO4 at optimal concentrations which again were below the concentrations of this metal that produced measurable DNA lesions. Both the induction of DNA-repair activity and DNA-strand breakage by these metals was concentration- and time-dependent. These results demonstrate some unique aspects of the interaction of HgCl2, NiCl2 and CaCrO4 with the DNA of intact cells and point to the possible important correlation of induction of DNA repair to carcinogenesis since nickel and chromate have clearly been implicated as carcinogens and induce considerable repair whereas HgCl2 is not considered a carcinogen and induces the least DNA repair despite its potency in producing DNA lesions.

Two expressed human genes sustain slightly more DNA damage after alkylating agent treatment than an inactive gene.

Alkylating agent damage was quantified in human T-lymphocytes by calculating gene-specific lesion frequencies and repair rates. At 3 time points after exposure to methyl methanesulfonate (0, 6, and 24 h), T-lymphocyte DNA was extracted, digested with HindIII, and divided into 2 aliquots. Apurinic sites were formed in the DNA fragments of both aliquots by heat-induced liberation of the N-methylpurines. The methoxyamine-treated aliquot provided gene fragments which were refractory to alkaline hydrolysis (full-length fragments), while the fragments in the untreated aliquot were cleaved at apurinic sites by hydroxide. After Southern blotting, lesion frequencies were calculated by comparing the band intensity of the full-length fragment to its unprotected counterpart. The restriction fragments analyzed were from the constitutively active dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) plus hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (hprt) genes and from the transcriptionally inactive Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene (dmd). In decreasing order, the fragments containing the most lesions per kb of DNA were: hprt greater than dhfr greater than dmd. T-Lymphocytes from 2 females had 30% more heat-labile N-methylpurines in the active X-linked hprt gene than in the inactive X-linked dmd gene. The lesion frequency found in the male's lone hprt allele was the highest observed. These lesion frequency differences are discussed in terms of chromatin structure. After 6 and 24 h, no significant repair rate differences were observed among the 3 genes.

DNA repair and mutant frequency in schizophrenia.

The in vivo frequency of mutants resulting from mutation at the hprt locus in human T-lymphocytes was determined with a cloning assay. T-lymphocytes were obtained from 14 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and 5 controls. No significant difference in mutant frequency was observed between the 2 groups. In addition, DNA-repair capacity was measured with the unscheduled DNA synthesis technique in lymphocytes from 7 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and 7 controls. Repair capacity was determined following treatment with MMS, MNNG, and 20 J/m2 ultraviolet light. No significant differences in DNA repair were observed between the patient and control groups in response to any of the 3 DNA-damaging agents. These results argue against differences between normal and schizophrenic individuals with respect to in vivo mutant frequency or their capacity to repair DNA lesions induced by MMS, MNNG, or ultraviolet radiation.

Detection of DNA damage and repair by alkaline elution using human lymphocytes.

The repair of DNA alkylation damage in human cells is poorly understood. We have adapted the alkaline elution technique for use with human peripheral blood lymphocytes in culture. We have also established conditions necessary for short-term culture of human lymphocytes. Lymphocyte growth which can be maintained for up to 30 days is dependent upon irradiated TK6 feeder cells and T-cell growth factor (crude TCGF). The amount of damage induced by a given concentration of methyl methane-sulfonate (MMS) is dependent upon cell number per ml of growth medium. The DNA damage measured, in lymphocytes, by alkaline elution is a composite of single strand breaks and alkali-labile lesions. Repair of this damage after appropriate recovery periods is also detectable. The irradiated feeder TK6 cells do not contribute to the number of strand breaks detected or the amount of recovery after treatment. This method offers a quick and reproducible means of detecting DNA damage and repair in human T-lymphocytes.

Decreased DNA repair in familial Alzheimer's disease.

Alterations in the capacity of a cell to repair DNA lesions play an important role in a number of human diseases. We and others have demonstrated defective DNA repair of alkylation damage in cells from patients with Alzheimer's disease. It has been hypothesized that this defect is related to the cause of Alzheimer's disease and results in the accumulation of lesions in the central nervous system neurons. One prediction of this hypothesis is that in dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease, the repair defect will be present in half of the offspring of affected patients long before they develop symptoms of the disease. In order to test the hypothesis that decreased DNA repair is responsible for familial Alzheimer's disease and their at-risk offspring we have studied DNA repair in these individuals after exposure of lymphoblasts to alkylating agents. Our results indicate that cell lines from affected patients repair significantly less damage in 3 h than cell lines from healthy controls. A small number of at-risk individuals were also studied and some of these had lower levels of repair, although more cell lines from individuals in this group must be studied. These findings provide further support for defective DNA repair playing a role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.

O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase activities from exponentially growing human T lymphocytes: similar activities in controls and Alzheimer's disease patients.

O6-Methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MT) specific activity (fmol/mg protein) was measured in human T lymphocytes which were maintained as exponentially growing cultures from 6 to 17 days. The T lymphocytes were not transformed and were grown under the same conditions used previously for determination of spontaneous human mutant frequencies. Although large inter-individual differences in activity were found, the differences were not attributable to donor age, sex or time in culture. The reported specific activity results, including the age and sex independence, were similar to other laboratories even though non-cultured peripheral blood T lymphocytes were previously used. Since cells from Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients have been shown to be overly sensitive to alkylation damage induced by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanine, and since no one has previously assayed MT activity in cells from AD patients, we compared MT activities in cultured T lymphocytes from AD patients, healthy controls and neurological controls. Similar levels of MT specific activity were found in each category analysed.