Sprague-Dawley rats were treated by intratracheal instillation with a single dose of 0.2 mg/kg body wt of 3-nitrobenzanthrone (3-NBA), and whole blood, lungs, pancreases, kidneys, urinary bladders, hearts, small intestines and livers were removed at various times after administration. At five posttreatment times (2 days, 2, 10, 20 and 36 weeks), DNA adducts were analysed in each tissue by (32)P-postlabelling to study their long-term persistence. 3-NBA-derived DNA adducts consisting of the same adduct pattern were observed in all tissues from animals killed between 2 days and 36 weeks and between 2 days and 20 weeks in blood. DNA isolated from whole blood contained the same 3-NBA-specific adduct pattern as that found in tissues. Although total adduct levels in the blood were much lower than those found in the lung, the target organ of 3-NBA tumourigenicity, they were related (20-25%, R(2) = 0.98) to the levels found in lung. In all organs, total adduct levels decreased over time to 20-30% of the initial levels till the latest time point (36 weeks) and showed a biphasic profile, with a rapid loss during the first 2 weeks followed by a much slower decline that reached a stable plateau at 20 weeks after treatment. These results show that uptake of 3-NBA by the lung induces high levels of specific DNA adducts in target and non-target organs of the rat. The correlation between DNA adducts in lung and blood suggests that persistent 3-NBA-DNA adducts in the blood may be useful biomarkers for human respiratory exposure to 3-NBA.

3-Nitrobenzanthrone (3-NBA) is an environmental pollutant and suspected human carcinogen found in emissions from diesel and gasoline engines and on the surface of ambient air particulate matter; human exposure to 3-NBA is likely to occur primarily via the respiratory tract. In our study female Sprague Dawley rats were treated by intratracheal instillation with a single dose of 0.2 or 2 mg/kg body weight of 3-NBA. Using the butanol enrichment version of the 32 P-postlabeling method, DNA adduct formation by 3-NBA 48 hr after intratracheal administration in different organs (lung, pancreas, kidney, urinary bladder, heart, small intestine and liver) and in blood was investigated. The same adduct pattern consisting of up to 5 DNA adduct spots was detected by thin layer chromatography in all tissues and blood and at both doses. Highest total adduct levels were found in lung and pancreas (350 6 139 and 620 6 370 adducts per 10 8 nucleotides for the high dose and 39 6 18 and 55 6 34 adducts per 10 8 nucleotides for the low dose, respectively) followed by kidney, urinary bladder, heart, small intestine and liver. Adduct levels were dose-dependent in all organs (approximately 10-fold difference between doses). It was demonstrated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) that all 5 3-NBA-derived DNA adducts formed in rats after intratracheal instillation are identical to those formed by other routes of application and are, as previously shown, formed from reductive metabolites bound to purine bases. Although total adduct levels in the blood were much lower (41 6 27 and 9.5 6 1.9 adducts per 10 8 nucleotides for the high and low dose, respectively) than those found in the lung, they were related to dose and to the levels found in lung. These results show that uptake of 3-NBA by the lung induces high levels of specific DNA adducts in several organs of the rat and an identical adduct pattern in DNA from blood. Therefore, 3-NBA-DNA adducts present in the blood are useful biomarkers for exposure to 3-NBA and may help to assess the effective biological dose in humans exposed to it. ' 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

We investigated the separation and detection of the 5'-monophosphates of 2'-deoxynucleosides selectively conjugated with 4,4-difluoro-5,7-dimethyl-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene-3-propionyl ethylene diamine hydrochloride (BODIPY FL EDA) at the 5'-phosphate group using capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection (CE-LIF). BODIPY conjugates of the four common deoxynucleoside-5'-monophosphates (2'-deoxyguanosine-5'-monophosphate, 2'-deoxyadenosine-5'-monophosphate, 2'-deoxycytidine-5'-monophosphate, and thymidine-5'-monophosphate) were prepared and subjected to CE-LIF to serve as standard compounds for peak assignment and to develop separation conditions for the analysis of DNA. BODIPY conjugates were detected and resolved by CE-LIF after digestion of DNA or an oligonucleotide to 5'-monophosphates by nuclease P1 (NP 1) and fluorescence labeling without further purification step. Comparative analyses of calf-thymus DNA digested either with micrococcal nuclease/spleen phosphodiesterase to 3'-monophosphates or with NP 1 to 5'-monophosphates showed that both versions of the fluorescence postlabeling assay were equally efficient and sensitive. Moreover, using the same assay, 2'-deoxyuridine and 2'-deoxy-5methylcytidine were identified in bisulfite treated DNA after NP 1 digestion indicating that fluorescence postlabeling of 2'-deoxyribonucleoside-5'-monophosphates with BODIPY FL EDA and detection by CE-LIF has the potential to determine DNA damage and genomic DNA methylation.