Nitrosamine-induced mutagenesis in Escherichia coli K12 (343/113)

Salmonella typhimurium TA100 and TA1535 and E. coli WP2 uvrA are highly sensitive to detect the mutagenicity of short Alkyl-N-Nitrosamines in the Bacterial Reverse Mutation Test

“…Nitrosamines require metabolic activation and there were different publications showing that species differences exist suggesting hamster S9 for this class of compounds [ 26 , 28 , 37 ]. Moreover, there exist data indicating that rat S9 failed to activate nitrosamines to exert mutagenic activity [ 38 ]. In these investigations, the induction of the rat liver enzymes was performed using phenobarbital 1% (v/v) in drinking water.…”

Metabolic activation of short-chain alkyl N-nitrosamines using Aroclor 1254 or phenobarbital/beta-naphthoflavone-induced rat or hamster S9 – A comparative analysis

“…Based on work published in the 1970′s and 1980′s [11] , [12] , [17] , there were concerns from regulatory bodies that the standard Ames test, using rat liver S9 and applying the plate incorporation protocol, is not sensitive enough to detect the mutagenic potential especially for nitrosamines with low molecular weight such as nitroso-dimethylamine (NDMA) [9] . Analysis of these publications showed that many of the reported Ames tests have limitations, such as e.g., uncommon strains, few strains or low concentrations.…”