Modulative effects of metabolic effectors on benzo(a)pyrene-induced cytotoxicity and mutagenicity in mammalian cells

Conjugation and detoxification of mixed function oxidase (MFO)-mediated benzo(a)pyrene [B(a)P] metabolites with glucuronic acid and glutathione (GSH) are major pathways of B(a)P elimination and ultimately excretion in vivo. We have studied the effects of uridine diphosphate alpha-D-glucuronic acid (UDPGA) and GSH, a cofactor for the synthesis of glucuronide and GSH conjugates, respectively, on B(a)P-induced cytotoxicity and mutagenicity in mammalian cells. The S9-mix used in the Chinese hamster ovary cell/hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (CHO/HPRT) mutational assay was supplemented with either UDPGA, GSH, or GSH plus purified GSH-S-transferases (GSHTs), to study modulation of glucuronide and GSH detoxification mechanisms on B(a)P-induced cytotoxic and mutagenic effects. We found that the addition of UDPGA to S9-mix reduces cytotoxicity induced by either B(a)P or B(a)P 6-OH but not by B(a)P 7,8-diol [B(a)P-diol]. The reduction of B(a)P and B(a)P 6-OH-induced cytotoxicity by glucuronide conjugation is likely due to elimination of cytotoxic phenols and quinones. The addition of GSH to the S9-mix resulted in a reduction of B(a)P- and B(a)P-diol-induced cytotoxicity. GSH plus GSHT reduced B(a)P-induced cytotoxicity and mutagenicity. GSH inhibited the mutagenicity at low concentrations of B(a)P-diol. GSH plus GSHTs inhibited the cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of B(a)P-diol at concentrations not affected by GSH alone. These studies demonstrate that mechanisms of detoxification can affect the biological activity of B(a)P and B(a)P-diol as profoundly as bioactivation by the MFO system. Future research should address studies of mutagenicity modulation by metabolic effectors at both the molecular (DNA sequence) and cellular (quantitative mutagenesis) level.