Suppression of saccharin-induced mutagenicity by interferon-alpha in human RSa cells

Saccharin is an artificial sweetener commonly used in the formulation of foods and beverages. Sodium saccharin-induced mutagenicity is detectable in human RSa cells by estimation of cloning efficiency of ouabain-resistant mutant cells and determination of K-ras codon 12 mutation in genomic DNA, analyzed by PCR and differential dot-blot hybridization. However, in this study no phenotypic or genetic mutations were detected in RSa cells cultured with human IFN (HuIFN)-alpha before sodium saccharin treatment. The suppressive effect was lessened by transient treatment with antipain immediately after sodium saccharin treatment. Elevation of antipain-sensitive protease activity was found, furthermore, in RSa cells cultured with HuIFN-alpha and subsequently treated with sodium saccharin. Thus, antipain-sensitive protease induction in cells tested here may be involved in suppression of the mutagenicity of saccharin by HuIFN-alpha.