title: The mutagenicity of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in V79 cells.
abstract: A crude mixture of capsaicinoids (CAPs) from Capsicum frutrescens, capsaicin (C) and dihydrocapsaicin (DC) but not 4-methyl-dihydrocapsaicin (MC), a synthetic homolog of DC, were mutagenic in the V79 assay. Oxidative metabolism of C and DC by microsomes or ferricyanide yielded a dimer of C or DC. Based on the lack of mutagenicity of MC, the mutagenicities of C and DC and the supporting chemical data, a mechanism of action involving an intermediate phenoxy radical is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha 68105.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lawson
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gannett
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002211:Capsaicin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000633:toxicity*; D002460:Cell Line; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D006224:Cricetinae; D003412:Cricetulus; D005292:Ferricyanides; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008862:Microsomes, Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009153:Mutagens; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D005292:Ferricyanides; D009153:Mutagens; C007931:hexacyanoferrate III; D002211:Capsaicin; C012906:dihydrocapsaicin