title: Are effects of common ragwort in the Ames test caused by pyrrolizidine alkaloids?
abstract: It has previously been demonstrated by others that acetone extracts of Senecio jacobaea (syn. Jacobaea vulgaris, common or tansy ragwort) test positive in the Salmonella/microsome mutagenicity test (Ames test). Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are thought to be responsible for these mutagenic effects. However, it was also observed that the major PA present in common ragwort, jacobine, produced a negative response (with and without the addition of rat liver S9) in Salmonella test strains TA98, TA100, TA1535 and TA1537. To investigate which compounds in the plant extracts were responsible for the positive outcome, the present study investigated the contents and mutagenic effects of methanol and acetone extracts prepared from dried ground S. jacobaea and Senecio inaequidens (narrow-leafed ragwort). Subsequently, a fractionation approach was set up in combination with LC-MS/MS analysis of the fractions. It was shown that the positive Ames test outcomes of S. jacobaea extracts are unlikely to be caused by PAs, but rather by the flavonoid quercetin. This study also demonstrates the importance of identifying compounds responsible for positive test results in bioassays.
authors.affiliation: RIKILT - Institute of Food Safety, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Akkermaalsbos 2, 6708 WB Wageningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: toine.bovee@wur.nl.
authors.forename: Toine F H
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Bovee
authors.affiliation: RIKILT - Institute of Food Safety, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Akkermaalsbos 2, 6708 WB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Richard J R
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Helsdingen
authors.affiliation: RIKILT - Institute of Food Safety, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Akkermaalsbos 2, 6708 WB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ron L A P
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Hoogenboom
authors.affiliation: RIKILT - Institute of Food Safety, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Akkermaalsbos 2, 6708 WB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Monique W C M
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: de Nijs
authors.affiliation: Plant Ecology and Phytochemistry, Institute of Biology, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Xiaojie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Plant Ecology and Phytochemistry, Institute of Biology, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Klaas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vrieling
authors.affiliation: Plant Ecology and Phytochemistry, Institute of Biology, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Peter G L
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Klinkhamer
authors.affiliation: RIKILT - Institute of Food Safety, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Akkermaalsbos 2, 6708 WB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ad A C M
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Peijnenburg
authors.affiliation: RIKILT - Institute of Food Safety, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Akkermaalsbos 2, 6708 WB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Patrick P J
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Mulder
mesh_terms: D000096:Acetone; D065767:Activation, Metabolic; D000818:Animals; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D000432:Methanol; D008862:Microsomes, Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D011763:Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011794:Quercetin / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D012674:Senecio / Q000737:chemistry*; D012997:Solvents; D013045:Species Specificity; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D005419:Flavonoids; D010936:Plant Extracts; D011763:Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids; D012997:Solvents; D014867:Water; D000096:Acetone; C013581:jacobine; D011794:Quercetin; D000432:Methanol
keywords: Ames test; LC-MS/MS; Pyrrolizidine alkaloids; Quercetin; Ragwort