Contribution of wood smoke to in vivo formation of N-nitrosothiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid: initial studies.

The effect of administering liquid smoke or smoked food products to rats on in vivo formation of N-nitrosamino acids was investigated. Rats treated by gavage with either cysteine, formaldehyde or nitrite excreted urine containing no detectable levels of N-nitrosothiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (NTCA). All three precursor compounds were required for NTCA formation. Two liquid smokes, when administered to rats in combination with cysteine and nitrite also produced measurable quantities of NTCA. Ascorbate inhibited in vivo formation of NTCA by approximately 90% when given to rats simultaneously with cysteine, formaldehyde, and nitrite. alpha-Tocopherol was much less effective than ascorbate in blocking NTCA formation. When smoked bacon, smoked Swiss cheese, and chicken barbecued with a sauce containing smoke flavouring were fed to rats along with nitrate, NTCA was again detected in the urine.