Inhibition of the mutagenicity of bay-region diol-epoxides of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by tannic acid, hydroxylated anthraquinones and hydroxylated cinnamic acid derivatives.

Abstract

Tannic acid and several hydroxylated anthraquinone and cinnamic acid derivatives inhibited the mutagenic activity of (+/-)-7 beta,8 alpha-dihydroxy-9 alpha,10 alpha-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo [a]pyrene (B[a]P 7,8-diol-9,10-epoxide-2), an ultimate mutagenic and carcinogenic metabolite of benzo [a]pyrene. The mutagenic activity of 0.05 nmol of B[a]P 7,8-diol-9,10-epoxide-2 towards strain TA 100 of Salmonella typhimurium was inhibited 50% by incubation of the bacteria and the diol-epoxide with tannic acid (0.5 nmol), anthraflavic acid (7 nmol), rufigallol (7 nmol), quinalizarin (10 nmol), alizarin (30 nmol), purpurin (60 nmol), and danthron (88 nmol). Dose-dependent, but weaker antimutagenic activity was observed for quinizarin, and a number of hydroxylated cinamic acid derivatives. Gallic acid and m-digallic acid, major components of tannic acid, possessed less than 1% of the anti-mutagenic activity of tannic acid, although m-digallic acid was over 3 times more active than gallic acid. The anti-mutagenic activity of tannic acid was a result of its interaction with B[a]P 7,8-diol-9,10-epoxide-2 since the rate of disappearance of the diol-epoxide from cell-free solutions in 1:9dioxane:water was markedly stimulated by the polyphenol. Tannic acid was a highly potent inhibitor of the mutagenic activity of the bay-region diol-epoxides of benzo[a]pyrene, dibenzo[a,h]pyrene and dibenzo[a,i]pyrene, but higher concentrations of tannic acid were needed to inhibit the mutagenicity of the chemically less reactive benzo[a]-pyrene 4,5-oxide and the bay-region diol-epoxides of benz[a]-anthracene, chrysene and benz[c]phenanthrene.