Metabolic activation of food mutagens by liver and lung enzymes from rats, pigs and oxen

Mutagenic activation of the 3 cooked food mutagens 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ), 2-amino-3,4-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (MeIQ) and 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) was compared in liver and lung enzyme preparations from oxen, pigs and rats. Liver preparations from oxen were the most efficient in activating the mutagens, while the rat enzymes were more active than those from pigs. The different cooking mutagens showed different mutagenic potential. MeIQ was the most potent mutagen, followed by IQ and MeIQx in descending order. In oxen, MeIQx was as potent as IQ. The activation with the lung enzymes was 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than with liver. Furthermore, species differences in mutagenic activation with lung enzymes were small compared with liver enzymes. In lung preparations the differences between IQ and MeIQ were small, but in all 3 animal species the mutagenicity of MeIQx was 1 order of magnitude lower than that of the other 2 mutagens.