Effects of saccharin and urine on the decomposition of N-nitrosomethylurea.
Addition of either saccharin or rat urine to aqueous N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) caused concentration-dependent loss of the ultraviolet absorption of MNU. The shapes of the absorption spectra of the residual MNU products were different and characteristic of either saccharin (flat-sided) or urine (symmetrical) as reaction matrix. In the presence of urine from rats fed 2.5% saccharin in the diet, the flat-sided curve characteristic of MNU-saccharin products was always observed. Further, the half-life of the MNU products in urine from saccharin-treated rats was shorter than the half-life observed in control urine, suggesting that saccharin ingestion might alter both the nature and rate of MNU decomposition in vivo. A molecular hypothesis for the mechanism of the MNU/saccharin interaction is proposed.
D000818:Animals; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008770:Methylnitrosourea; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009607:Nitrosourea Compounds; D051381:Rats; D012439:Saccharin; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D014556:Urine
D009607:Nitrosourea Compounds; D008770:Methylnitrosourea; D012439:Saccharin