Detection of 3,6-dinitrobenzo[a]pyrene in airborne particulates

The position of the nitro group affects the mutagenicity of nitroarenes

The ease with which a nitrated polyaromatic hydrocarbon (NO₂PAH) is activated by reductive metabolism is an important factor in determining mutagenicity. However, the mutagenicity of 3-nitrobenzo[a]pyrene (3-NO₂BaP) is stronger than that of 1-NO₂BaP despite similar reduction properties, and the more potent mutagenicity of 3,6-diNO₂BaP relative to that of 1,6-diNO₂BaP cannot be explained by relative reducibility. Here, we investigated structural factors leading to the mutagenicity of these compounds by synthesizing 1- and 3-NO₂BaP derivatives with C6-position substituents that affect reduction properties and testing the mutagenicity of the compounds and their derivatives against Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA98NR. The LUMO and LUMO+1 energies of 6-substituted 3-NO₂BaPs were found to correlate with mutagenicity, but such correlations were much weaker with 6-substituted 1-NO₂BaPs, indicating that the mutagenicity of 3-NO₂BaPs is influenced by the ease of reductive metabolic activation. In silico structural analyses demonstrated that the distances between the nitrogen of the N-acetoxyamino group in reductive metabolites and a DNA alkylation target were longer for 1-NO₂BaPs than for 3-NO₂BaPs. Therefore, the active metabolites of 6-substituted 3-NO₂BaPs intercalate with DNA at a distance where they can readily form adducts with guanine. Conversely, the unfavorable position of intercalated active metabolites of 1-NO₂BaPs relative to guanine leads to difficult adduct formation despite the facile formation of the active metabolite due to a low LUMO energy. Therefore, the chemical reducibility of the nitro group and, more importantly, the ease of adduct formation between an active metabolite and DNA are essential for the prediction of the mutagenicity of NO₂PAHs.

Reactive oxygen species production by BP-1,6-quinone and its effects on the endothelial dysfunction: Involvement of the mitochondria

Strong epidemiological evidence supports the association between increased air pollution and the risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). However, the mechanism remains unclear. As an environmental air pollutant and benzo-a-pyrene (BP) metabolite, BP-1,6-quinone (BP-1,6-Q) is present in the particulate phase of air pollution. This study was undertaken to examine the redox activity of BP-1,6-Q and mechanisms associated with it using EA.hy926 endothelial cells. BP-1,6-Q at 0.01-1 μM significantly stimulated the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS)·in intact cells and isolated mitochondria. Furthermore, BP-1,6-Q-induced ROS was altered by mitochondrial electron transport chain (METC) inhibitors of complex I (rotenone) and complex III (antimycin A), denoting the involvement of mitochondrial electron transport chain (METC) in BP-1,6-Q mediated ROS production. In METC deficient cells, interestingly, BP-1,6-Q-mediated ROS production was enhanced, suggesting that overproduction of ROS by BP-1,6-Q is not only produced from mitochondria but can also be from the cell outside of mitochondria (extramitochondrial). BP-1,6-Q also triggered endothelial-monocyte interaction and stimulated expression of vascular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1). In conclusion, these results demonstrate that BP-1,6-Q can generate ROS within both mitochondria and outside of mitochondria, resulting in stimulation of adhesion of monocytes to endothelial cells, a key event in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.

Validity of mutagenic activity as an indicator of river water pollution

OBJECTIVES

To investigate if mutagenicity could be expressed by known water pollution indicators, we determined the mutagenic activity of blue rayon extracts from sampled river water with the Ames test utilizing new strains of bacteria, and compared the results with those of known indicators of water pollution.

METHODS

Water samples were collected by the blue rayon adsorption method at sixteen sites in six rivers in the North Kyushu district. The Assay of mutagenicity was carried out using the Ames test. The test strains wereSalmonella typhimurium TA100, YG1024, YG1041 and YG1042. B(a)P, Trp-P-1 and Trp-P-2 were quantified by HPLC. Determinations of SS, BOD, COD, T-N, T-P, DOC, and A(260)/DOC were performed.

RESULTS

The extracts from five sampling sites showed higher mutagenicity toward strain YG1024 with or without S9mix, and the extracts from two of these five sites showed higher mutagenicity toward strain YG1041 with and without S9mix. However, the water pollution indicators did not show specific trends that were consistent with the mutagenic activity.

CONCLUSIONS

Since the mutagenic activity of river water could not be predicted using known water pollution indicators, we recommend that biological examinations such as mutagenicity tests be added to the indicators that are currently in use.

The role of electronic properties to the mutagenic activity of 1,6- and 3,6-dinitrobenzo[a]pyrene isomers

Equilibrium geometries, infrared spectra, vertical first ionization potential (IP), electronic affinity (EA), dipole moment (mu) and electronic dipole polarizability (alpha) of 1,6- and 3,6-dinitrobenzo[a]pyrene isomers (1,6-DNBaP and 3,6-DNBaP) were evaluated by means of Density Functional Theory (DFT) and recent semiempirical PM6 method. Structural, energetic and vibrational properties of DNBaP isomers are substantially similar to each other. Calculated IP, EA and alpha values of these isomers are practically identical, while mu of 3,6-DNBaP (8.2 D at DFT level) is predicted to be ca. 4 times the value of 1,6-DNBaP isomer (1.9 D at DFT level), owing to favorable mutual orientation of the individual nitro group vectors. Higher direct-mutagenic activities of 3,6-DNBaP with respect to 1,6-DNBaP isomer by 1-2 orders of magnitude might be determined by its peculiar electronic charge distribution, which through stronger electrostatic and inductive interactions, can promote much more effectively binding to active-site of enzymes involved in mutagenic pathways. On the other hand, orientation of the nitro substituents relatively to the plane of the aromatic moiety, molecular sizes, as well as nitroreduction and oxidation reactions seem not to have a key role in the determination of the different mutagenic behaviour of these isomers.

Mutagenic nitrated benzo[a]pyrene derivatives in the reaction product of benzo[a]pyrene in NO2-air in the presence of O3 or under photoirradiation

In order to clarify the contribution of nitrated products to the direct-mutagenic activity of products of the reactions of benzo[a]pyrene in NO2-air under various conditions, heterogeneous reactions of BaP deposited on filter in the air containing 10 ppm of NO2 have been conducted in dark or under photoirradiation. The reaction products have been analyzed by gas chromatography and mutagenicity of the products fractionated by preparative HPLC was assayed for Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and YG1024 in the absence of S9 mix. 3,6-dinitrobenzo[a]pyrene and 1,3-dinitrobenzo[a]pyrene, which are strong direct-acting mutagens, largely contributed to the total direct-acting mutagenicity of the dark reaction products in NO2-air. On the other hand, both the dark reaction in the presence of O3 and the photoreaction in NO2-air resulted in the formation of much smaller amounts of nitrobenzo[a]pyrenes than that observed in the dark reaction in the absence of O3. These results show that the contribution of other direct-acting mutagens to the total direct-acting mutagenicity of the products in these reactions should be considered. Benzo[a]pyrene lactones were identified in a highly mutagenic fraction of the products of the dark reaction in the presence of O3 and photoreaction and a nitrobenzo[a]pyrene lactone was also identified in a highly mutagenic fraction of the dark reaction products in the presence of O3. Nitrated oxygenated benzo[a]pyrene derivatives such as nitrobenzo[a]pyrene lactone were considered to largely contribute to direct-acting mutagenicity of the products of the dark reaction in the presence of O3 and photoreaction.

Chromatographic methods for carcinogenic/mutagenic nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs), which are known to be carcinogenic and/or mutagenic, are considered to be one of the air pollutants that cause lung cancer. In the last two decades, a number of sensitive and selective methods have been developed for the determination of NPAHs and related compounds in environmental and biological samples. This paper describes the state of the art of the methods and applications.

Comparative tumorigenicity of 1- and 3-nitrobenzo[a]pyrenes, and 3,6- and 1,6-dinitrobenzo[a]pyrenes in F344/DuCrj rats

Our earlier study revealed that 1- and 3-nitrobenzo[a]pyrene (NBP), 1,6- and 3,6-dinitrobenzo[a]pyrene (DNBP), nitrated derivatives of benzo[a]BP (BP), are present in the environment. These derivatives are potent mutagens for Salmonella tester strains and we have preliminarily reported them to be carcinogenic in F344/DuCrj rats. In this study, the tumorigenic action of 1- and 3-NBP, 1.6- and 3,6-DNBP, and BP induced by subcutaneous injection into rats was found to differ according to the NO2-substitution in the BP structure. The chemicals were suspended in equal volumes of beeswax and tricaprylin, and rats were subcutaneously injected with single doses of 500, 1000, and 2000 microg for 1- and 3-NBP, and of 8, 40, 200, and 1000 microg for 3,6- and 1,6-DNBP, and BP as a positive control. 3,6-DNBP and BP induced tumors in a dose-dependent manner at the injection site. Rats given 1000 microg of 3,6-DNBP (2924 nmol) and BP (3968 nmol) developed subcutaneous tumors at the rate of 70 and 80%, respectively, and those given a minimum dose of 23 nmol for 3.6-DNBP and 32 nmol for BP per rat developed tumors at a rate of 4.8 and 18.2%, respectively. However, rats given 500 and 1000 microg of 1- and 3-NBP did not develop any tumors while those given a high dose, 2000 microg, of each chemical developed tumors at only one of ten animals used. It was concluded, therefore, that these chemicals are weak carcinogens. Histologically, most of the tumors were malignant fibrous histiocytomas. Rats given various doses of 1,6-DNBP did not develop any tumors at the injection site. The failure of 1,6-DNBP to induce tumors may involve its metabolites because of the lower mutagenicity of its reduction products, 1-nitroso-6-NBP and 1-amino-6-NBP. It is suggested, therefore, that tumorigenicities of NBPs and DNBPs differ according to the NO2-substitution on the chemical structure, which may be due to the possible nitroreduction of the chemicals.

Genotoxic activity of 1-nitropyrene in water from the Yodo River, Japan

The identification of mutagenic 1-nitropyrene, one of the direct-acting nitroarenes, in a source of municipal drinking water is described. A diethyl ether extract recovered from river water by the XAD-2 resin column method was separated into neutral, acid and basic fractions. The neutral fraction accounted for 52 and 36%, respectively, of the genotoxicity of the extract in the absence and the presence of the metabolic activation system, for strain NM2009, which is sensitive to nitroarenes and/or aminoarenes. When separated by silica gel column chromatography, the benzene fraction of the neutral fraction, showed the highest genotoxic activity. The genotoxicity of the benzene fraction accounted for 80 and 60%, respectively, of the neutral fraction, in the absence and the presence of S9 mix. These results show that mutagenic nitroarenes might be contained in the benzene fraction of the neutral one. The benzene fraction was further subjected to HPLC and fractionated. A 1-nitropyrene-corresponding fraction was collected and subjected to capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The mass spectrum showed molecular and fragment ion peaks of 1-nitropyrene: 247, 217, 201, 189. Moreover, the concentration of 1-nitropyrene in municipal river water was 1 ng/l, accounting for only 1% of the total genotoxicity.

Mutagenic nitroarenes, diesel emissions, particulate-induced mutations and cancer: an essay on cancer-causation by a moving target

Initial analyses of the lung tumors seen in rats exposed for their lifetime to elevated levels of the emissions of diesel engines suggested that they were due to powerful mutagens and carcinogens (PAHs, nitro PAHS) absorbed onto the diesel particles. However, further studies showed that carcinogenicity occurred only under conditions that resulted in impaired lung clearance ('overloading') leading to inflammatory reactions and other pathologic sequelae. These observations together with the findings that carbon black, a model for diesel particles devoid of organic mutagens and carcinogens, also induced lung cancers under conditions of overloading led to the suggestion that the cancers resulted from a non-genotoxic mechanism. However, the further finding that inert particulate carcinogens devoid of organics, induce mutations has led to a re-evaluation of the role of mutations in lung carcinogenesis caused by particles and the relevance of the rat model to humans. This is especially timely as epidemiological studies suggest that humans may develop lung cancers following occupational exposure to diesel emission by a mechanism unlikely to involve lung overloading. Finally, the recent recognition that environmental PM-10 (respiratory size particles) may be responsible for a significant portion of human morbidity and mortality, ensures that the health effect of diesel emissions will continue to receive scrutiny as they contribute to the PM-10 load.

Mutagenic and carcinogenic significance and the possible induction of lung cancer by nitro aromatic hydrocarbons in particulate pollutants

Studies of genotoxicity and carcinogenicity of nitro aromatic hydrocarbons focus on their high mutagenicity for bacteria and mammalian cells. Nitrobenzo[a]pyrenes (NBPs) and related nitroazaarenes also are extraordinarily mutagenic. 3-Nitro-6-azabenzo[a]pyren-N-oxide was found to be a more potent mutagen than 1,8-dinitropyrene. Mutagenicity of NBPs was associated with the position of substitution of the nitro function when nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was substituted at the third position on the benzo[a]pyrene (BP) structure, as in 3,6-dinitrobenzo[a]pyrene but not in 1,6-diNBP. The NBPs were reduced by a rat liver postmitochondrial fraction to nitroso- and subsequently to amino-derivatives. Therefore, tumoral action in rats was induced at significant levels by subcutaneous injection of 3,6-diNBP, but no tumors were observed in rats given 1,6-diNBP. Carcinogenic nitropyrenes were detected in the resected lung of a patient with lung cancer. It is suggested that the presence of nitropyrenes and the resulting tumor were due to exposure to by-products of combustion of heavy oil. The patient was a nonsmoker and farmer who had bred chickens for 40 years. He used heavy oil for heating the chicken house. Similarly, a group of Chinese people at high risk of developing lung cancer was selected to determine the initiator of lung cancer. Lung cancers were obtained from six Chinese female nonsmokers who were living in Fuyuan County, China. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were detected in resected lung specimens; they were benzo[k]fluoranthene, BP, benzo[g,h,i]perylene, and pyrene. These cases were associated with exposure to soot from combustion of coal usually used for heating and cooking indoors.

Mutagenic activity of urban air samples and its modulation by chili extracts

Different samples of ambient particulate organic matter were collected during the summer and winter of 1990 in Mexico City. After dichloromethane extraction, the samples were tested for mutagenicity with derivatives of Salmonella typhimurium possessing high activity of 'classical' nitroreductase (YG1021) or O-acetyltransferase (YG1024), and compared to the mutagenicity of the normal strain YG1020, and to that of a nitroreductase-deficient mutant TA98NR. The two enzyme-overproducing strains were more sensitive to the mutagenic effect of the extracts than the parent and deficient strains. The sensitivity order, i.e., YG1024 > YG1021 > YG1020 > TA98NR, emphasizes the usefulness of the new Salmonella strains in analyzing the mutagenicity of complex mixtures and suggests that some of the direct mutagenic compounds in the urban air samples are nitro-aromatics. Investigations were also conducted to analyze the effect of chili extract on the mutagenicity of an urban air sample. The extract itself showed moderate mutagenic activity and an additive effect was noted when both the chili and air extracts were present. On the other hand, the maximum volume of chili tested produced a decrease in the number of revertants without affecting the background lawn of bacterial growth. The same response was also observed when 1-nitropyrene, 1,6-dinitropyrene or 1,8-dinitropyrene was used as the genotoxic compound, although potentiation instead of addition occurred at low vegetable volumes. At the concentrations found in the chili extract, chlorophyllin and beta-carotene showed an antimutagenic effect against the nitro-aromatic compounds.

Phenotypic instability of Salmonella strain YG1024 during mutagenicity assays of arylamine promutagens

During spot tests using Salmonella TA98 derivatives (YG1021, YG1024) and TA100 derivatives (YG1026, YG1029), a unique response of O-acetyltransferase (OAT)-enhanced strains YG1024 and YG1029 to arylamines was observed. On plates containing rat-liver S9, these strains yielded revertant colonies induced in two separate concentric rings around the site of application, while the parent (TA98, TA100) and nitroreductase-enhanced strains (YG1021, YG1026) did not exhibit this response. The inner ring of revertants was accompanied by cytotoxicity and microcolony formation, with the outer ring in a region without background lawn toxicity. Addition of tetracycline to the top agar eliminated formation of the inner ring of YG1024 revertants in spot tests and reduced the revertant count in preincubation assays at cytotoxic dose levels of 2-aminoanthracene, 2-aminofluorene, 2-amino-6-methyldipyrido[1,2-a:3',2'-d]imidazole and 2-amino-3,4-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline. Tetracycline sensitivity indicates that mutant colonies developing at high concentration/toxicity arose, in effect, from TA98 regenerated by functional loss of the tetracycline-resistance plasmid (pYG219) from YG1024. Mutant colonies found at low concentration/toxicity arose from normal plasmid-bearing YG1024. These results indicate the need to consider coincidental toxicity-induced instability in YG1024 during quantitative mutagenicity assays of arylamines and uncharacterized complex mixtures.

Reduction properties of nitrated naphthalenes: relationship between electrochemical reduction potential and the enzymatic reduction by microsomes or cytosol from rat liver

The nitroreductase activities of rat liver microsomes and cytosol towards various nitrated naphthalenes (1-, 2-mononitro-, 1,3-, 1,5-, 1,7-, 1,8-dinitro-1,3,5- and 1,3,8-trinitronaphthalenes) were characterized as follows. (1) The rates of reduction of nitrated naphthalenes in either microsomal or cytosolic incubation were found to increase in the order of trinitro- > dinitro- > mono-nitronaphthalene, although, in the case of microsomal nitroreduction, trinitronaphthalenes were reduced more rapidly than in cytosol. (2) The effective cofactors, electron donors, in the nitroreduction of nitrated naphthalenes in cytosol were NADH and hypoxanthine, but not NADPH. (3) The nitrated naphthalenes with a nitro group at a beta-position appear to be more easily reduced among the various isomers. The cytosolic nitroreductase activities towards the nitrated naphthalenes were closely related to the single-electron reduction potentials measured by cyclic voltammetry and hence, there was a good relationship between the logarithm of nitroreductase activities and the electrochemical reduction potentials. In microsomes, nitroreductase activities were rather less well related to electrochemical reduction potentials.

Mutagenicity of nitro-azabenzo[a]pyrene and its related compounds

The mutagenicity of nitrated benzo[a]pyrene (BP) and the related compounds, 1- and 3-nitrobenzo[a]pyrene (NBP), 1- and 3-nitro-6-cyanobenzo[a]pyrene (N-6-CBP), 1- and 3-nitro-6-azabenzo[a]-pyrene (N-6-ABP), 1- and 3-nitro-6-azabenzo[a]-pyrene-N-oxide (N-6-ABPO) and 1,6- and 3,6-dinitrobenzo[a]-pyrene (DNBP), was investigated. The mutagenic activities of 3-N-6-CBP and 3-N-6-ABP were 117 and 76 times, respectively, that of 3-NBP. In addition, 3,6-DNBP was more mutagenic than 1,6-DNBP. It is suggested that the mutagenic activation differs with the position of NO2 substitution in the chemical structure. A nitro derivative with NO2 substitution at the 3 position of the aromatic ring of BP was more mutagenic than that with the substitution at the 1 or 6 position. The reducibility of DNBPs was then determined by detecting 1- or 3-amino-6-nitrobenzo[a]pyrene (A-6-NBP), a metabolite of DNBP; 3,6- and 1,6-DNBP were reduced to 3- and 1-A-6-NBP at frequencies of 958 +/- 26 and 79 +/- 8, respectively, pmole per mg of protein, when the compound was incubated anaerobically with rat liver S9 mix at 37 degrees C for 15 min. NO2 substituted at the 3 position of the aromatic ring of BP was readily reduced by a microsome enzyme to form an amino derivative. The result suggests that these compounds have a structure-activity relationship between mutagenicity and NO2 substitution of BP.