title: Mutagenicity of some methylated benzo[a]pyrene derivatives.
abstract: The mutagenicity of benzo[a]pyrene (BP) and a number of methylated derivatives towards Salmonella typhimurium has been tested. The most mutagenic derivative tested was 6-methylbenzo[a]pyrene which produced about twice the number of revertants as did BP, 11-Methylbenzo[a]pyrene was slightly more mutagenic than BP. All the other compounds tested (7-, 8-, 9- and 10-methylbenzo[a]pyrene and 7,8- and 7,10-dimethylbenzo[a]pyrene) were significantly less active than benzo[a]pyrene. With the exception of 6-methylbenzo[a]pyrene, these results closely parallel the known carcinogenicity of the methylated benzo[a]pyrenes, and support the view that metabolic activation of BP may involve the 7-10 positions which are blocked in the methylated compounds.
mesh_terms: D001564:Benzo(a)pyrene; D001580:Benzopyrenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009153:Mutagens / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009154:Mutation; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D001580:Benzopyrenes; D009153:Mutagens; D001564:Benzo(a)pyrene