The chemistry and biology of 7H-dibenzo[c,g]carbazole: synthesis and characterization of selected derivatives, metabolism in rat liver preparations and mutagenesis mediated by cultured rat hepatocytes

Authentic stable standards of 7H-dibenzo[c, g]carbazole (DBC), a potent environmental carcinogen, were synthesized in order to study the compound's metabolism and mutagenesis in whole cell systems. Complete characterization of 2-OH-DBC, 3-OH-DBC, 4-OH-DBC, 13c-OH-DBC and N-methyl-DBC was accomplished by UV, IR, fluorescence and high resolution NMR spectra, and by high resolution mass spectrometric procedures. Metabolites of DBC were isolated and separated by HPLC from extracts of rat liver microsomal incubations and the medium of primary cultures of rat liver cells. Identification of metabolites was accomplished by comparisons between the authentic standards and isolated metabolites by UV and fluorescence spectroscopy, mass spectral analyses, and by co-chromatographic techniques. 2-OH-DBC and 3-OH-DBC were found in all rat liver preparations as well as three other unidentified phenols. 4-OH-DBC, 13c-OH-DBC or N-methyl-DBC were not isolated under any conditions. The rates of appearance of DBC metabolites in cultures of rat liver cells were compared to those for benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) at 10, 25, 50 and 100 μM substrate. At 25 μM substrate or greater, DBC metabolites appeared in the culture medium at significantly faster rates than those of BaP. At 100 μM substrate, DBC metabolites appeared at a rate ∼4-times the rate observed for BaP. When the mutagenk potential of DBC was compared to that of BaP under identical conditions in a co-cultivation system of rat liver cells and an epithelial cell line, DBC was found to produce significantly higher rates of mutagenesis than BaP at concentrations of 0.4, 4.0 and 40.0 μM in the culture medium. The mutagenic potential of DBC was compared to that of several derivatives of the parent compound. 3-OH-DBC, 13c-OH-DBC and N-methyl-DBC were found to be mutagenic in the co-cultivation system at 40 μM, with mutation frequencies of 4.4 ± 0.8, 8.0 ±3.1 and 12.9 ± 5.4 mutants per 105 survivors, respectively. The parent compound induced 8.0 ± 2.8 mutants per 105 survivors at the same concentration. 2-OH-DBC and 4-OH-DBC were not mutagenic under the same conditions. The studies have shown that metabolism of 7H-DBC leads predominantly to phenols in rat liver cells. The results of the mutagenesis experiments indicate that, of the derivatives studied, those associated by induction to the nitrogen are mutagenic. The latter studies suggest that the nitrogen is involved in the activation of the parent compound through inductive mechanisms.