Subnanogram estimation of the proximate carcinogen N-hydryxy-2-fluorenylacetamide by gas-liquid chromatography

Oxidative activation of 2-aminofluorene by human red blood cell cytosol

Purified red blood cell cytosol is able to activate 2-aminofluorene (2AF) to N-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene. Apparent kinetic parameters are determined with and without methylene blue. The latter, which maintains haemoglobin in the reduced form and stimulates NADPH production, increases the affinity of the enzyme for the 2AF. This activity is inhibited by carbon monoxide while cyanide is without effect. The involvement of a peroxidative reaction or a one-electron oxidative mechanism involving free radicals may be excluded.

Activation of some aromatic amines to mutagenic products by human red blood cell cytosol

The ability of human red blood cell cytosol to activate aromatic amines was evaluated with the Ames test using Salmonella typhimurium TA98 in the liquid preincubation condition. While negative results were obtained with 4-acetylaminofluorene (4AAF) and 1-naphtylamine (1NA), a slight response was observed for 4-aminobiphenyl (4ABP) and 2-naphthylamine (2NA). Human red blood cell cytosol was able to activate 2-aminofluorene (2AF), 2-acetylaminofluorene (2AAF) and 2-aminoanthracene (2AA) to mutagenic intermediates. Extracts of human red blood cell cytosol incubated with 2AF were analyzed by gas chromatography: N-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene was identified as a metabolite.

Metabolism of 2-aminofluorene by rat small-intestine fractions: differential effect of intragastric versus intraperitoneal administration of 3-methylcholanthrene

The influence of 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) induction on small intestinal enzymes was studied by measuring the enzymatic characteristics of 2-aminofluorene N-hydroxylase and the activation of this aromatic amine into mutagen(s) towards Salmonella typhimurium. When injected intraperitoneally to rats, 3-MC modified neither the N-hydroxylation nor the mutagenic properties of 2-aminofluorene (2-AF) in the presence of postmitochondrial and microsomal fractions from small intestine. On the other hand, the intragastric administration of the inducer slightly increased affinity and significantly induced maximum velocity of N-hydroxylase. Moreover, the ability of the small intestinal fractions to activate 2-AF into mutagenic intermediate(s) was enhanced after intragastric application. The mode of administration seems to be crucial in the induction of small intestinal enzymes required for metabolic and mutagenic activation of carcinogenic aromatic amines such as 2-AF.

Differential effect of chronic ethanol consumption by the rat on microsomal oxidation of hepatocarcinogens and their activation to mutagens

The effect of chronic ethanol consumption by rats on hepatic microsomal activation of the hepatocarcinogens dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) and 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF) was investigated. There was a marked increase in the rate of the oxidative demethylation of DMN and its activation to a mutagen by microsomes following ethanol intake. N- and C-hydroxylation of 2-AAF were measured at substrate concentrations ranging from 2 to 70 microM. The ratio of formation of N-hydroxy-2-acetylaminofluorene to C-hydroxy-2-acetylaminofluorenes increased with decreasing substrate concentration, suggesting enhanced carcinogenic potential of 2-AAF with diminishing levels of carcinogen. Kinetic analysis indicated that N-hydroxylation as well as 7-, 5- and 3-hydroxylation of 2-AAF do not follow Michaelis-Menten kinetics. In contrast to the marked inductive effect of ethanol consumption on the metabolic activation of DMN, only a minimal random effect on the N-hydroxylation of 2-AAF was demonstrable in two separate experiments. Furthermore, N-hydroxylation of 2-AAF by microsomes from control and ethanol-treated rats followed similar kinetics. While ethanol consumption enhanced the mutagenic activation of DMN by hepatic microsomes, no such effect of ethanol consumption on the conversion of 2-AAF to a mutagen was observed. The data indicate that chronic ethanol consumption does not have a general inductive effect on the microsomal activation of hepatocarcinogens.

Comparative study of rat, dog and human liver microsomal arylamide N-hydroxylases

As compared to rat liver microsomal arylamide N-hydroxylase both the dog and the human enzymes have lower affinity but higher activity. SKF525A, a well known effector of cytochrome P-450 dependent mixed function oxidases, activates the hepatic N-hydroxylase of all three species. This effect is concentration dependent and tends to plateau at 50 X 10(-6)M. As previously demonstrated with rat liver microsomes, the ring-hydroxylated, non-toxic, metabolites of 2-acetylaminofluorene, interact with the N-hydroxylating enzyme. These interactions are both compound- and species-specific. The most striking differences are seen with the paraphenolic product which activates the rat, does not affect the dog and inhibits the human liver enzyme. In the liver of this last species, that compound is the main metabolite of 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF).

Species differences in the biochemical properties of liver microsomal arylamine and arylamide n-hydroxylases

Cytochrome P-448 dependent microsomal N-hydroxylases are key enzymes in the metabolic activation of both arylamides and arylamines. Using 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF) and 2-aminofluorene (2-AF) as substrates, the present report compares the biochemical properties of rat, hamster and mouse liver N-hydroxylases. There are marked species differences both in terms of the affinity for the two substrates and in terms of maximum velocity of the enzymes. The rat and hamster liver arylamide N-hydroxylases are induced by pretreatment with 2-AAF which also significantly increases their affinity for the substrate. In mouse liver neither arylamide nor arylamine N-hydroxylases are modified or induced. With 2-AF as substrate, arylamide treatment never enhances N-hydroxylation but it reduces the Km-value of the rat and hamster liver enzymes. Among the effectors tested in vitro, 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC), 7,8-benzoflavone (BF), benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and miconazole (MN) inhibit hepatic arylamide N-hydroxylase in the submicromolar range. Harman (H) and paraoxon (PX) act in a dose-dependent manner in the micromolar range and metyrapone (MP) is not an inhibitor even at 50-microM concentration. Among the position isomers, 1- and 3-AAF are inhibitors of the N-hydroxylating enzymes whereas 4-AAF is not.

In vivo and in vitro effects of 3-methylcholanthrene on the microsome-mediated in vitro mutagenicity of 2-acetylaminofluorene

Pretreatment of rat, hamster or mouse by 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) largely induces the liver microsomal N-hydroxylase activity. The same pretreatment given simultaneously with 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF) inhibits the hepatocarcinogenicity in the rat but not in the hamster. The present report compared the in vivo and in vitro effects of 3-MC on liver microsomal N-hydroxylation and liver microsome-mediated mutagenicity of 2-AAF in hamster, rat and mouse. The induction of hamster or mouse liver microsomal N-hydroxylase activity correlated well with the increase in the microsome-mediated mutagenicity of 2-AAF. With rat, however, even though the N-hydroxylase activity is largely enhanced, microsome-mediated mutagenicity is significantly reduced after pretreatment with 3-MC. Such a reduction parallels a decrease in enzyme affinity. Added in vitro to the incubation medium, 3-MC (microM concentration) inhibits both the N-hydroxylase activity and the microsome-mediated mutagenicity of 2-AAF. Those data are discussed in relationship with the biological interactions between 3-MC and 2-AAF.

Biochemical basis for the resistance of guinea-pig and monkey to the carcinogenic effects of arylamines and arylamides

1. Ag.l.c. assay for N-hydroxy-2-acetamidofluorene has been modified to measure both N-hydroxy-2-acetamidofluorene and N-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene. 2. Like guinea-pig, monkey N-hydroxylates both 2-aminofluorene and 2-acetamido-fluorene. The N-hydroxy metabolites are rapidly further metabolized even in the presence of inhibitors of deacetylase. The exact nature of this further metabolism is still unknown. Preliminary evidence indicates that, at least in the guinea-pig, 7-hydroxy-2-acetamidofluorene may be a metabolite of N-hydroxy-2-acetmidofluorene. 3. 3-Methylcholanthrene, 7,8-benzoflavone and miconazole, which have been shown to inhibit guinea-pig liver microsomal N-hydroxylase, do not significantly inhibit the monkey liver enzyme. 4. 2-Acetamidofluorene, which inhibits the guinea-pig liver microsomal N-hydroxylation of 2-aminofluorene in vitro, activates the enzyme from monkey liver. This activation, which is dose-dependent, appears to be allosteric. 5. Both guinea-pig and monkey are more efficient in N-hydroxylating 2-aminofluorene than 2-acetamidofluorene. The affinity (in term of apparent KM) of the guinea-pig liver enzyme is 4 times greater than the affinity of the monkey liver enzyme.

Characterization of the guinea pig liver microsomal 2-fluorenylamine and N-2-fluorenylacetamide N-hydroxylase

Many reports in the literature have indicated that the guinea-pig is resistant to the carcinogenic effect of N-2-fluorenylacetamide (2FAA); this refractoriness has been attributed to its lack of N-hydroxylating enzymes. The present communication, however, supports the results of contradictory reports which demonstrate that guinea-pig liver microsomes are in fact able to N-hydroxylate both 2-fluorenamine and 2FAA. The guinea-pig N-hydroxylase activity toward 2-fluorenamine is found to be even greater than the reported activity in the rat and hamster. It is similarly inhibited by 3-methylcholanthrene (3MC), 7,8-benzoflavone (7,8 BF) or miconazole. Activity toward N-2-fluorenacetamide is present in the microsomal preparation from the control guinea-pig. There is slight activation by SKF525A, paraoxon (PX) or sodium fluoride. Under optimum conditions, in the presence of both paraoxon and sodium fluoride, activity is equivalent to that of rat liver microsomal enzymes.

Competitive inhibitory effect of microsomal N-hydroxylase, a possible explanation for the in vivo in inhibition of 2-acetylaminofluorene carcinogenicity by 3-methylcholanthrene

The kinetic properties of the N-hydroxylation of 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF) are studied with microsomal preparations of livers from both control and 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC)-pretreated rats and hamsters. The level of basal enzymatic activity is higher in hamster than in rat liver; 3-MC induces the activity in both animals. When added in vitro to incubation mixture, 3-MC competitively inhibits the N-hydroxylase activity. When fed to rats simultaneously with 2-AAF, 3-MC suppresses the carcinogenicity of the acetylated arylamine by inhibiting the first step in its activation pathway. Hamster tissues are not protected by this pretreatment because the level of N-hydroxylase activity is too high.