Mutagenicity and Induction of Drug-metabolizing Enzyme Activity by LPG Combustion Particulates in Rats

Methylene chloride extracts of particulates from liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) combustion appliance were studied by using Ames test, micronucleus test and inducibility of pulmonary and hepatic aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) in rats. The extracts showed mutagenicity for Salmonella typhimurium strain TA98 and its derivatives TA98NR and TA98/1,8-DNP6 with or without S9 mix. The revertants in strains TA98NR and TA98/1,8-DNP6 were less than 40% and 50% of that in strain TA98 without S9 mix, respectively. Positive results were obtained in mouse bone marrow micronucleus assay. Intratracheal instillation of the extracts led to increase in pulmonary (but not hepatic) AHH and GST activities in rats. It was seen that AHH was more sensitive than GST to induction by the extracts

Effect of N+ Beam Exposure on Superoxide Dismutase and Catalase Activities and Induction of Mn-SOD in Deinococcus Radiodurans

Though bacteria of the radiation-resistant Deinococcus radiodurans have a high resistance to the lethal and mutagenic effects of many DNA-damaging agents, the mechanisms involved in the response of these bacteria to oxidative stress are poorly understood. In this report, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities produced by these bacteria were measured, and the change of SOD and CAT activities by 20 keV N+ beam exposure was examined. Their activities were increased by N+ beam exposure from 8x 1014 ions/cm2 to 6x1015 ions/cm2.The treatment of H2O2 and [ CHC13 +CH3 CH2OH ] and the measurement of absorption spectrum showed that the increase in SOD activity was resulted from inducible activities of MnSOD in D. radiodurans AS1.633 by N+ beam exposure . These results suggested that this bacteria possess inducible defense mechanisms against the deleterious effects of oxidization.

Chemical constituents from Portulaca oleracea and their bioactivities

In the present study, we aimed to intensively study the chemical constituents, especially organic acids from a medicinal plant Portulaca oleracea L., and screen their anti-inflammatory and quinone reductase （QR, a phase II detoxyfication enzyme） inductive activity. A total of 20 compounds were isolated and identified based on spectroscopic methods, as succinic acid （1）, mono-methyl succinate （2）, L-malic acid （3）, L-l-methyl malate （4）, L-4-methyl malate （5）, L-dimethyl malate （6）, L-6-ethyl citrate （7）, L-1-methyl citrate （8）, L-1,5-dimethyl citrate （9）, 4-hydroxy-5-methylfuran-3-carboxylic acid （10）, 5-hydroxymethyl-furoic acid （11）, stearic acid （12）, L-pyroglutamic acid （13）, cyclo-（tyrosine-leucine） （14）, L-isoleucine （15）, （-）-dehydrovomifoliol （16）, （-）-epiloliolide （17）, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylethanol （18）, succinimide （19）, and uracil （20）. Among them, 14 compounds （2, 4-8, 10, 11, 13-18） were isolated from P. oleracea for the first time. Compotmd 18 （12.5 μM） exhibited potent anti-inflammatory effect in lipopolysaccharide （LPS）-induced macrophage cells （RAW264.7） by reducing NO production, and it also increased QR activity in Hepa lclc7 cells. Compound 16 （50 μM） showed weak QR inductive activity. None of other compounds showed anti-inflammatory or QR inductive activities.