RESUMO
Several derivatives of dipyrido[1,2-a:3',2'-d]imidazole related to protein pyrolysates have been studied for their effects on the P-450 system of hepatic parenchyma and two dependent monoxidase enzymes, zoxazolamine hydroxylase and dimethylnitrosamine-N-demethylase (DMN-d-ase). We found that the compounds can be divided into two groups. The first group consists of compounds which inhibit the production of cytochrome P-450 and zoxazolamine hydroxylase and induce the formation of DMN-d-ase; these compounds are known to be powerful mutagens. The compounds of the second group, non-mutagens or weak mutagens, have an opposite effect: they induce the biosynthesis of cytochrome P-450 and zoxazolamine hydroxylase and repress the production of DMN-d-ase. These findings are of interest since it is known that certain of the studied compounds can be found in human food.
