DIfferential ability of Ambystoma tigrinum hepatic microsomes to produce mutagenic metabolites from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and aromatic amines.

A number of carcinogenic aromatic amines when activated by liver microsomes from a salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum, are mutagenic for Salmonella tester strains sensitive to frameshift mutagens. However, 2 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) (benzo[alpha]pyrene (BaP) and perylene) that are rendered mutagenic by mammalian microsomes are not activated by Ambystoma mixed-function oxidases. BaP was chosen for study because it is a well-known environmental carcinogen; perylene, an isomer of BaP, has been implicated as a etiological agent in cutaneous neoplasia in Ambystoma. These results support the observation that amphibians are quite resistant to PAH carcinogenesis and suggest that aromatic amines may be more appropriate model carcinogens.