DT DIAPHORASE AND THE ACTION OF CHEMICAL MUTAGENS AND CARCINOGENS.

THE EFFECTS OF DICUMAROL, A SPECIFIC INHIBITOR OF DT-DIAPHORASE, WERE INVESTIGATED IN THE AMES REVERSION TEST BY ASSAYING SEVERAL MUTAGENS OF DIFFERENT CHEMICAL CLASSES IN THE PRESENCE OF A VARIETY OF METABOLIC SYSTEMS. DICUMAROL PARTIALLY PREVENTED THE METABOLIC LOSS OF MUTAGENICITY OF FIVE HEXAVALENT CHROMIUM COMPOUNDS AND, VERY EFFICIENTLY, INHIBITED THE METABOLISM OF 4-NITROQUINOLINE-N-OXIDE. THESE FINDINGS RAISE THE HYPOTHESIS THAT DT-DIAPHORASE (A) MAY PLAY SOME ROLE ALSO IN THE METABOLISM OF INORGANIC COMPOUNDS AND (B) MAY BE INVOLVED NOT ONLY IN THE DETOXIFICATION BUT ALSO IN THE METABOLIC ACTIVATION OF CARCINOGENS.