Nitrites are ubiquitous environmental contaminants present in drinking water and foods. Nitrosamines can be formed endogenously from nitrate and nitrite and secondary amines or may be present in food, tobacco smoke, and drinking water. The major goal of this work was to evaluate the cytotoxic, reactive oxygen species (ROS)-producing and genotoxic effects of nitrite and nitrosamines and the poss...

N-Nitrodimethylamine, N-nitrodiethylamine, N-nitromorpholine and their N-nitroso analogs, N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine, and N-nitrosomorpholine, were tested in Salmonella typhimurium strains TA100 and TA1530. The mutagenicity of all compounds, except N-nitrodiethylamine, was demonstrated in liquid incubation assays in at least one of the tester strains; it required the presence...

The metabolism of several N-nitrosamines (N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosoethylmethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine, N-nitrosobenzylmethylamine, and N-nitrosopyrrolidine) in cultured human and rat esophagus has been investigated by measuring (a) CO2, (b) metabolites with an oxo group, and (c) metabolites bound to DNA. Both acyclic and cyclic N-nitrosamines were metabolized by rat esophagus. The ...

Human liver cancers have been associated mainly with chronic inflammations such as viral hepatitis B or C. This suggests that prolonged cell damage by chronic inflammation is critical in cancer development. Overproduction of nitric oxide (NO.) and its derivative (NOx, peroxynitrite) has been implicated as a cause of tissue damage by inflammation, thus contributing to tumor promotion. We have de...

Effects of garlic (Allium sativum) on circulatory lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status were evaluated in N-Nitrosodiethylamine induced hepatocarcinogenesis in male rats. Enhanced lipid peroxidation in the circulation of NNitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) treated rats was accompanied by a decrease in the levels of vitamins C and E, reduced glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase ...

The question of whether 8-hydroxyguanine (8-OHG) formation is involved in initiation by low dose levels of N-nitrosodiethylamine (DEN) was addressed using a rat liver model. Male Fischer 344 rats, 6 weeks of age, were administered single i.p. doses of DEN between 0.001 and 100 mg/kg body weight. The 8-OHG levels in liver DNA were measured within 72 h thereafter in randomly selected rats. The re...

N -nitroso compounds, such as N -nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), can be formed by the reaction of secundary amines with nitrosating agents, and are suspected to be involved in tumors in humans. NDEA has been considered a weak carcinogen in genotoxic assays probably due to the inefficient nitrosamine activation system that is used and/or to the efficient repair system. In this work, we evaluated the...