CANCER CHEMOPREVENTIVE ACTIVITY OF SYNTHETIC COLORANTS USED IN FOODS,PHARMACEUTICALS AND COSMETIC PREPARATIONS

In continuation with our studies to uncover cancer chemopreventive eff ects of non-toxic natural colorants and other products of biologic and synthetic origin, we tested several Food and Drug Administration-appr oved synthetic colorants for antitumor promoting potential by the in v itro Epstein-Ban virus early antigen activation in Raji cells in respo nse to the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Among 29 such colorants used in foods, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics a nd evaluated in vitro, six of the 10 most effective had an azo group. Three structurally unrelated colorants tested in this assay were also studied in vivo for chemoprevention of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced TPA-promoted mouse skin carcinogenesis. The results ind icate that tartrazine, indigo carmine and erythrosine are potent inhib itors of skin tumor promotion in mice treated with DMBA and TPA. (C) 1 998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.