Studies on mutagenicity of alternariol monomethyl ether in V_(79) chinese hamster cells / 中国病理生理杂志

ABSTRACT

Alternariol monomethyl ether(AME) was isolated, purified and crystallized from the extracts of the corn inoculated with Alternaria alternata which was separated from the contaminated rice in the high incidence area of esophageal cancer, Lixian County. AME is one of the major metabolic products of A. alternata. In this paper, the mutagenic potency of AME was detected with the V_(79) Chinese hamster cells. The experimental results showed that with or without rat liver microsomes (S-9), AME could induce 6-Thioguanine resistant (6-TG~r) mutation in V_(79) cells and their dose-effect curves were similar. The mutagenicity of AME without S-9 was stronger than that of AME with S-9. So it is considered that AME is a direct mutagen which doesn' t need to be activited metabolically by S-9. AME may play an important role in the etiology of esophageal cancer.