Comparative investigations of genotoxic activity of five nitriles in the comet assay and the Ames test.

Two short-term assays, the modified Ames test and the comet assay, were carried out to evaluate the genotoxicity of five nitriles (acetonitrile, propionitrile, methacrylonitrile, butyronitrile, and benzonitrile). With the comet assay, all the nitriles studied were found to induce the genotoxicity in human lymphocytes and Hep G2 cells. Except for butyronitrile, the genotoxic potency in lymphocytes was more pronounced than that in Hep G2 cells, and the rank order of genotoxicity induced by these five nitriles in lymphocytes was different from that in Hep G2 cells, indicating that the pathways leading to genotoxicity in both types of cells were different. In the modified Ames test, no tested nitriles showed mutagenic activity on Salmonella typhimurium strain TA 98 and TA 100 with and without metabolic activation. Comparing the results obtained from both tests in this study, the comet assay seems to be more sensitive than the modified Ames test. Thus, the comet assay can be used to detect the genotoxicity of all nitriles.

Assessment of genotoxicity of methyl-tert-butyl ether, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene to human lymphocytes using comet assay.

Methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is a gasoline oxygenate and antiknock additive substituting for lead alkyls currently in use worldwide. Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) are volatile monoaromatic hydrocarbons which are commonly found together in crude petroleum and petroleum products such as gasoline. The aim of this study is to evaluate the genotoxic effects of these tested chemicals in human lymphocytes. Using the alkaline comet assay, we showed that all of the tested chemicals induce DNA damage in isolated human lymphocytes. This effect could follow from the induction of DNA strands breaks. The neutral version of the test revealed that MTBE, benzene, and xylenes induce DNA double-strand breaks at 200 microM. Apart from MTBE, the spin traps, 5,5-dimethyl-pyrroline-N-oxide (DMPO) and N-tert-butyl-alpha-phenylnitrone (PBN) can decrease the level of DNA damage in BTEX at 200 microM. This indicated that DNA damage could result from the participation of free radicals in DNA-damaging effect, which was further supported by the fact that post-treatment of formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (Fpg), enzyme recognizing oxidized DNA purines, gave rise to a significant increase in the extent of DNA damage in cells treated with benzene, and xylene at 200 microM. The results obtained suggested that MTBE and BTEX could induce a variety type of DNA damage such as single-strand breaks (SSBs), double-strand breaks (DSBs), and oxidative base modification.