Abstract
β-Carotene and α-tocopherol are important antioxidants biologically, but whether their oxidized products are toxic or not remains to be discovered. Here, we chromatographically separated 5 pure products or isomeric mixtures from reaction mixtures of β-carotene and reactive oxygens, and 17 lipid-radical scavenging products of α-tocopherol. The products were tested for mutagenicity using Salmonella typhimurium TA98, TA100, TA102, and TA104, in the presence and absence of S9. None showed mutagenicity against any of the four strains, or cytotoxicity that influenced the survival of the bacteria. Lipid-peroxides have been known to increase the formation of mutagens from dietary procarcinogens such as heterocyclic amines. So, we also measured the activity to increase 3-amino-1-methyl- 5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole (Trp-P-2) mutagenicity. The products from β-carotene and α-tocopherol did not increase, but rather several of them suppressed, the mutagenicity of Trp-P-2. Thus, the products of β-carotene and α-tocopherol formed after the antioxidant actions were not genotoxic.
