Fjord-region diol-epoxides of benzo[c]chrysene are potent inducers of micronuclei in murine bone marrow

Abstract Vicinal diol-epoxides are the best established carcinogenic metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Numerous studies have demonstrated their high genotoxic activity in various in vitro test systems. However, in vivo mutagenicity data are not available. The fjor-region diol-epoxides of benzo[ c ]chrysene combine high mutagenic activity in vitro with hydrolytic stability. They were tested for the induction of micronuclei in the bone marrow following intraperitoneal administration to NMRI mice. The anti diasteromer of the diol-epixode enhanced the frequency of micronucleated polycrhomatic erythrocytes strongly (7–19-fold above the value in untreated controls) over a very wide…