Reactivity of the 2-Methylfuran Phase I Metabolite 3-Acetylacrolein Toward DNA

2-Methylfuran (2-MF) is a well-known industrial chemical and also formed via thermal treatment of food. One main source of 2-MF in the human diet is coffee. 2-MF is known to form 3-acetylacrolein (AcA, 4-oxopent-2-enal) via cytochrome P 450 metabolism and further reacts with amino acids in vivo. Still the reactivity toward other biomolecules is rather scarce. Therefore, AcA was synthesized, and its reaction with 2'-deoxyadenosine (dA), 2'deoxyguanosine (dG), 2'deoxycytosine (dC), and 2'-deoxythymidine (dT) was tested. For this purpose, adduct formation was performed by acid hydrolysis of 2,5-dihydro-2,5-dimethoxy-2-methylfuran (DHDMMF) as well as pure AcA. The structures of these adducts were confirmed by UPLC-ESI⁺-MS/MS fragmentation patterns and ¹H-/¹³CNMR spectra. Except for dT, which showed no reactivity, all adducts of AcA were characterized, which enabled the development of sensitive quantification methods via (U)HPLC-ESI^±-MS/MS. Pure AcA was synthesized by oxidation of 2-MF using dimethyldioxirane (DMDO), and its behavior in aqueous medium was studied. Incubations of AcA and isolated DNA of primary rat hepatocytes (pRH) showed time- and dose-dependent formation of the identified DNA adducts dA-AcA, dG-AcA, or dC-AcA. In contrast, the DNA adducts dA-AcA, dG-AcA, or dC-AcA were not detected on a cellular level when pRH were incubated with 2-MF or AcA. This indicates an efficient detoxification or reaction with biomolecules in the cell, although the induction of other DNA damage, possibly also by other metabolites, cannot be ruled out in principle.