Photobiological properties of a novel, naturally occurring furoisocoumarin, coriandrin.

The photobiological properties of a novel, naturally occurring furoisocoumarin isolated from coriander and named coriandrin are described. Photosensitized lethal and mutagenic effects in bacteria indicate that it is more active than psoralen. It is a weak frameshift mutagen in the dark. Mammalian cells in tissue culture are photosensitized more actively with coriandrin than with psoralen even though preliminary evidence from interrupted radiation experiments and DNA analysis suggest that coriandrin does not form DNA interstrand crosslinks. Sister chromatid exchanges were induced with a unit dose of 1.1 x 10(-2) with coriandrin; the value for psoralen is 3 x 10(-3). Coriandrin appears to be metabolized more rapidly than furocoumarins by liver mixed function oxidases. Skin photosensitizing activity is very weak compared with psoralen, a surprising observation considering its potency in biological test systems.