DNA adduct formation of aristolochic acid I and II in vitro and in vivo

Aristolochic acid I (AA I) and aristolochic acid II (AA II),the two main ingredients of the carcinogenic plant extract aristolochicacid (AA), are metabolized to reactive intermediates which bindcovalently to DNA in vitro and in vivo. DNA adduct formationwas analysed by the ³²P-postlabelling assay. In in vitro incubationswith rat liver 9000 g supernatant (S9) and calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA),AA I showed an identical pattern of DNA adducts on thin-layerchromatograms under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, whereasAA II gave rise to DNA adduct formation only anaerobically.The anaerobically obtained DNA adduct pattern by AA II in vitrowas similar to the AA I adduct patterns. Aristolactams I andII, the metabolites of AA I and AA II formed under anaerobicconditions, did not form DNA adducts in the presence of S9 mixand CT-DNA. Incubations with xanthine oxidase, known to enzymaticallyreduce aromatic nitro groups, also activated AA I and AA IIto reactive intermediates, producing almost identical adductpatterns as obtained by S9 mix-mediated metabolism. Activationof AA I by S9 mix in the presence of poly(dG) resulted in theformation of two adducts, one of which was shown to be chromatographicallyindistinguishable from an adduct obtained by reaction with CT-DNA.For the in vivo studies AA I and AA II were administered orallyto male Wistar rats, and DNA from liver, brain, oesophagus,stomach lining, forestomach lining, kidney and bladder was analysedfor DNA adducts by ³²P-postlabelling. The adduct patterns inDNA from forestomach and kidney—target tissues of AA—andDNA from non-target tissues like stomach lining and liver weresimilar to the patterns obtained from the in vitro incubations.In the bladder (also a target tissue) only AA II gave rise toDNA adduct formation. These findings suggest that DNA adductformation by AA I and AA II does not directly correlate withthe initiation of the carcinogenic process and subsequent tumourformation in target tissues in the rat.