Antimutagenic profile of antioxidant vitamins in drosophila mulation test.

OBJECTIVE To assess the antimutagenicity of antioxidant vitamins (vitamins A, C, and E) as expressed by their efficacy to lower aflatoxin-induced mutations. METHODS The Muller-5 method for mutation detection was used to assay the frequency of X-chromosome linked recessive lethal mutations (XRLMs) in Drosophila. Larvae were exposed to dietary concentration of aflatoxins and/or the human therapeutic doses of any of the three antioxidant vitamins. Absence of normal eyed males among M2 progeny gave an indication of mutation induction. RESULTS Aflatoxin supplimentation significantly increased the incidence of XRLMs in Drosophila. Mutation frequency was also raised a little above the control level in case of vitamin treatment. However, notable mitigation in mutation frequency was registered when aflatoxin-treated larvae were concomitantly fed with any of the three antioxidant vitamins. CONCLUSION Aflatoxin exposure can enhance the frequency of gene mutation in Drosophila which is significantly lowered by each of the three antioxidant vitamins. The degree of amelioration produced by them is almost identical. This mitigation is based on the scavenging/trapping by antioxidant vitamins of DNA-reactive products (metabolites and radicals) emanating from aflatoxin metabolism.