Inhibition of bleomycin-induced DNA strand breaks in V 79 Chinese hamster cells by the antioxidant propylgallate.

Bleomycin induced DNA single-strand breaks in Chinese hamster V 79 cells which were detected by the alkaline filter elution assay. In the presence of propylgallate, an antioxidant, the amount of DNA single-strand breaks was significantly reduced. The production of DNA strand breaks by methylnitronitrosoguanidine used as a positive control was not influenced by propylgallate. It is suggested that propylgallate inhibits the generation of DNA single-strand breaks by trapping reactive oxygen species produced by the bleomycin-iron(II) complex.