2-nitro-3-methylimidazo(4-5-f)quinoline and 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo(4-5-b)pyridine

Transgenic mouse assays have revealed that the mouse intestine, despite its resistance to carcinogenesis, is sensitive to the mutagenicity of some heterocyclic amines (HCAs). Little is known, however, about the level and localization of that sensitivity. We assessed the mutagenicity of four orally administered (20 mg/kg per day for 5 days) HCAs-2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) hydrochloride, 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ), 2-amino-3,4-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (MeIQ), and 3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole (Trp-P-2) acetate-in the intestine of male MutaMice. Two weeks after the last administration, we isolated epithelium from the small intestine, cecum, and colon and analyzed lacZ and cII transgene mutations. PhIP increased the lacZ mutant frequency (MF) in all the samples, and in the small intestine, cII and lacZ MFs were comparable. In the cII gene, G:C to T:A and G:C to C:G transversions were characteristic PhIP-induced mutations (which has also been reported for the rat colon, where PhIP is carcinogenic). In the small intestine, PhIP increased the cII MF to four-fold that of the control, but IQ, MeIQ, and Trp-P-2 did not have a significant mutagenic effect. In the cecum, cII MFs induced by IQ and MeIQ were 1.9 and 2.7 times those in the control, respectively. The MF induced by MeIQ in the colon was 3.1 times the control value. Mutagenic potency was in the order PhIP>MeIQ>IQ; Trp-P-2 did not significantly increase the MF in any tissue. The cecum was the most susceptible organ to HCA mutagenicity.

Topics: Amines; Animals; Bacteriophage lambda; Carbolines; Colon; Heterocyclic Compounds; Imidazoles; Intestine, Small; Intestines; Lac Operon; Male; Mice; Mice, Transgenic; Mutagenicity Tests; Mutagens; Quinolines; Transcription Factors; Viral Proteins

Aberrant crypt foci (ACF) have recently been identified as early putative preneoplastic lesions which appear in the colons of experimental animals treated with colon carcinogens. In a recent study the two heterocyclic amines, 2-amino-3-methyl-imidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ) and 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenyl-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) were shown to be able to induce ACF in the colon of mice after, respectively, 4 and 10 weeks of exposure. In spite of the induction of ACF in colon of mice, IQ and PhIP have not been found to have colon as target organ in carcinogenicity studies. Therefore, one may question that ACF induced by IQ and PhIP in mice represent early stages of colon cancer. In order to investigate the possible role of PhIP- and IQ-induced aberrant crypt foci in the development of colon cancer in mice, colons from mice participating in other IQ- and PhIP-studies of much longer duration were analyzed for ACF. The results of these studies showed that the number of ACF increased statistically significantly over time, and that the small ACF were predominant (95-100%) at all time-points. In conclusion, this finding suggests that the detection of a high number of ACF with low crypt multiplicity (1-3 AC/Focus) in mice colon after IQ- or PhIP-treatment is not indicative for the end-point colon cancer, and thus supports the hypothesis that only the presence of a high number of ACF with high crypt multiplicity is predictive for tumor outcome.

Topics: Animals; Carcinogens; Colon; Colonic Neoplasms; Female; Imidazoles; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Neoplasms, Experimental; Precancerous Conditions; Quinolines