title: Chlorophyllin: a potent antimutagen against environmental and dietary complex mixtures.
abstract: Chlorophyllin, the sodium and copper salt of chlorophyll, was tested for its ability to inhibit the mutagenic activity of a variety of complex mixtures--extracts of fried beef, fried shredded pork, red grape juice, red wine, cigarette smoke, tobacco snuff, chewing tobacco, airborne particles, coal dust and diesel emission particles--in strain TA98 of Salmonella typhimurium. Chlorophyllin was highly effective against the mutagenicity (90-100% inhibition) of 8 of these 10 mixtures. The mutagenicity of the other 2 mixtures was inhibited 75-80% at the highest concentration of chlorophyllin studied. Control and reconstruction experiments showed that chlorophyllin was not toxic to Salmonella at the concentrations used. The antimutagenic activity of chlorophyllin was heat-stable. The mechanism of the antimutagenicity of chlorophyllin in these experiments is not known; however, chlorophyllin is an antioxidant. Scavenging of radicals and/or interaction with the active group of mutagenic compounds may be responsible for its antimutagenic activity. The data reported here indicate that chlorophyllin is potentially useful as an antimutagenic agent.
mesh_terms: D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D002735:Chlorophyllides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004032:Diet; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009153:Mutagens / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D002735:Chlorophyllides; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D009153:Mutagens; D002734:Chlorophyll; C007020:chlorophyllin