In vivo effect of L-ascorbic acid on benzo(α)pyrene metabolite-DNA adduct formation in rat liver.

ABSTRACT

Pretreatment of male Wistar rats with L-ascorbic acid results in a decrease in the in vivo covalent binding of benzo(a)pyrene to hepatic nuclear DNA. In vitro formation of this adduct is also found to be low in liver slices and in liver nuclei of pretreated rats. No inhibition of the adduct formation is, however, observed when benzo (a) pyrene and exogenous DNA are incubated with liver microsomes isolated from ascorbic acid treated rats.It appears that the presence of ascorbate in the cellular or subcellular environment is essential for its inhibitory action.