Alterations in activation and deactivation of mutagens in aging rat liver

Age-associated alternations in activation and deactivation of benzo[a]pyrene (BP), furylfuramide (AF2), and 2-nitrofluorene (NF) in rat liver were investigated. A modified Ames mutagenicity test system used liver 9000 g supernatant (S-9) from male Fischer 344 rats aged 3, 6, 12, and 24 months fortified with NADPH generating system alone or together with cofactors of conjugating enzymes. The numbers of revertant colonies due to mutagenic activation of BP during preincubation were markedly high in young rats and decreased with aging. They were decreased by the addition of UDP-glucuronic acid (15 mM) or glutathione (30 mM), the cofactors of UDP-glucuronyl transferase and glutathione S-transferase, respectively, in the preincubation mixture. The difference in the BP activation by liver S-9 from different age groups almost disappeared by the addition of reduced glutathione. A direct mutagen, AF2, was not metabolized during preincubation in the absence of cofactors of conjugating enzymes, but detoxified up to about 50% by the addition of glutathione to the preincubation mixture containing liver S-9 from rats of any age group. Another direct mutagen, NF, was partly detoxified during preincubation by liver S-9 from 3-month-old rats more than by that from 24-month-old rats. It is suggested that incidence of chemical carcinogenesis may increase along with aging due to the altered xenobiotics metabolism.