Mutagenicity of alkyl-(omega-hydroxyalkyl) nitrosamines related to dibutylnitrosamine

Various alkyl-(omega-hydroxyalkyl) derivatives related to dibutylnitrosamine (DBN) were investigated for mutagenicity in the absence of liver-activation system. Butyl-(4-hydroxybutyl)-, butyl-(3-hydroxypropyl)-, and butyl-(2-hydroxyethyl)-nitrosamines were so tested and found to be mutagenic for TA 1535 strain of Salmonella typhimurium. In all cases, a simple dose-response relationship was observed. Furthermore, no significant (p less than 0.05) differences in the mutagenicity of the various test compounds were observed as the alkyl sidechain possessing the OH group increased in length. From these results it is siggested that mutagenesis in S. typhimurium by the higher dialkylnitrosamines is partially due to the formation of omega-hydroxylated derivatives in addition to the major mutagenic metabolite derived from alpha-carbon dealkylation.