Ar. Barros et al., ACROLEIN GENOTOXICITY IN DROSOPHILA-MELANOGASTER .3. EFFECTS OF METABOLISM MODIFICATION, MUTATION RESEARCH, 321(3), 1994, pp. 119-126
In order to investigate the role of metabolism in acrolein genotoxicit
y in D. melanogaster, the action of several metabolism modifiers, name
ly phenobarbital, an inducer of xenobiotic metabolism, phenylimidazole
and iproniazid, inhibitors of oxidative activities of cytochrome P450
, and diethyl maleate, a glutathione-depleting agent, have been assaye
d using the sex-linked recessive lethal (SLRL) test, with two differen
t administration routes (feeding and injection). The results support t
he hypothesis that acrolein is not only a direct mutagen but is also t
ransformed, by oxidative activities of cytochrome P450 after glutathio
ne conjugation, into an active metabolite, possibly glycidaldehyde. Mo
reover, acrolein is deactivated by an enzymatic activity induced by ph
enobarbital.