DNA adduct formation by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene and its noncarcinogenic 2-fluoro analogue in female Sprague-Dawley rats.

The potent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon 7,12 dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) bound to the DNA of numerous organs of the female outbred Sprague-Dawley rat after iv administration under a regimen known to produce a high yield of mammary adenocarcinomas. The maximum DNA binding levels observed following iv administration of 5 mg (20 mumol) DMBA range from approximately 12 mumol hydrocarbon/mol deoxyribonucleic for the liver to approximately 5 mumol hydrocarbon/mol deoxyribonucleotide for the mammary gland, the target tissue. Administered under identical conditions, the noncarcinogenic analogue 2-fluoro-7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (2F-DMBA) bound to the DNA at levels of about 5-10% that of DMBA (i.e., 0.3-1.6 mumol/mol deoxyribonucleotide). Chromatographic analysis of the hydrocarbon-deoxyribonucleoside adducts produced showed that for DMBA at least two major types of identifiable adducts were observed in all tissues examined, the major one being that resulting from the reaction of a DMBA bay-region diol-epoxide. The other adduct type resulted from the binding of an analogous diol-epoxide of a DMBA metabolite, 7-hydroxymethyl-12-methylbenz[a]anthracene. Adducts from 2F-DMBA were observed on high-pressure liquid chromatography but were in quantities insufficient for characterization. The finding of higher levels of chromatographically identical DMBA-DNA adducts in the nontarget (liver) tissue than in the target tissue indicated that adduct formation per se was not a sufficient stimulus for the cancer induction. However, the failure of the structurally similar 2F-DMBA, which produced only very low levels of DNA adducts, to induce mammary cancer implies that certain levels of carcinogen-DNA adducts may be necessary for carcinogenesis.