Metabolic activation of aromatic amines and azo dyes

Aromatic amines, amides and nitro compounds are a class of chemicals that produce tumors in a wide variety of tissues in experimental animals, including liver, urinary bladder, forestomach, small intestine, Zymbal's gland, subcutaneous tissue or skin. In man, exposure to some aromatic amines is associated with tumours of the urinary bladder and carcinoma of the renal pelvis. Their biological activity as carcinogens or genotoxic agents is, in all the cases that have been studied in detail, dependent on metabolic activation in vivo, occurring by multiple pathways. Differences in these metabolic pathways may largely account for the differences in tissues and species susceptibilities to cancer induction. Carcinogenicity of aromatic amines or amides is dependent on their oxidation to N-hydroxy derivatives, whilst the carcinogenicity of aromatic nitro compounds is linked to their reduction to hydroxylamines. Further conversion of the N-hydroxylamine or N-hydroxyamide to reactive intermediates can occur in several ways, which include (i) esterification of the N-hydroxy group, (ii) non-enzymic protonation of the nitrogen of the hydroxylamine and (iii) oxidation to a free radical of arylhydroxamic acids. Following generation of such reactive electrophilic intermediates in tissues or cells, macromolecular binding has been observed to nucleic acids and proteins. In many cases, arylamidated and arylaminated products are formed with nucleic acid bases; in the case of the well-studied 2-acetylaminofluorene, nucleophilic atoms of guanine are the predominant site of reaction. Relatively little is known of the structure and biological consequences of DNA adducts formed from other aromatic amines, amides or nitro compounds; more research in these directions is warranted.