The effect of an individual's blood pressure on the percentage of total 7,12-dimethylbenz[a] anthracene metabolites that bind covalently to DNA in cultured resting lymphocytes

Functional and biochemical disposition of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene in murine lymphoid cells

The metabolism of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) was studied in murine lymphocytes. This carcinogen has previously been shown to be immunosuppressive to lymphocytes regardless of their ability to be induced via the Ah locus and receptor. Experiments were designed to quantify the generation of metabolites of DMBA by lymphocytes incubated with [14C]DMBA and to ascertain whether radioactivity was covalently bound to cellular macromolecules in DMBA-exposed lymphocytes. No significant metabolism of DMBA was detected in culture supernatants, except when cultures were incubated in the presence of Arochlor-induced rat liver 9000 x g supernatants (S9). Covalent binding of 14C to cellular macromolecules was enhanced approximately eightfold in the presence of S9. Inhibition of monooxygenase activity by alpha-naphthoflavone did not modulate the immunosuppressive character of DMBA. Furthermore, addition of S9 did not amplify or ablate DMBA-mediated suppression of lymphocyte proliferation to the mitogen concanavalin A (Con A). Selected metabolites of DMBA were evaluated for immunosuppressive effects in cultures stimulated with mitogens and cellular alloantigens. 7-Hydroxymethyl-12-methylbenz[a]anthracene (OHMe) and 5,6-dihydro-5,6-dihydroxybenz[a]anthracene (Diol) were found to cause only slightly greater suppression of lymphocyte responses than DMBA. Thus, it appears that metabolites of DMBA were not responsible for the immunosuppression observed in lymphocyte cultures and that lymphocytes were not equipped to metabolize any significant amount of DMBA. These data lend support to the hypothesis that parent compound alone is responsible for the immunosuppressive effects observed in murine lymphocyte culture.

Mutagen sensitivity, smoking habits and enzyme induction in healthy middle-aged men

Unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) (excision-repair) of N-acetoxy-2-acetylaminofluorene (NA-AAF) damage to the DNA of human lymphocytes and levels of 3H-labeled NA-AAF bound to the DNA (carcinogen binding) of lymphocytes after 18 hr of culturing were measured in a consecutive subsample of healthy middle-aged males attending a multiphasic health screening program at the Department of Preventive Medicine in Malmö during 3 weeks in November-December 1981, and compared relative to their smoking habits, body weight, serum cholesterol, and gamma-glutamyltransferase levels as well as aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase inducibility. This study group numbered 66 males and was uniform in sex, age, and investigation time. No case of significant arterial hypertension was present. The UDS and carcinogen binding results showed no correlation with the other factors measured, with the exception of smoking which was strongly (P less than 0.01) associated with increasing levels of both the UDS and carcinogen binding values. It is concluded that under ordinary circumstances smoking may represent the most important exogenous factor which may modulate risk to cardiovascular disease and cancer by influencing individual mutagen sensitivity.