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Metabolic Activation of Nitroheterocyclic Compounds in Bacteria and Mammalian Cells

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Book cover Short-Term Tests for Chemical Carcinogens

Part of the book series: Topics in Environmental Physiology and Medicine ((TEPHY))

Abstract

Several thousand nitroheterocyclic compounds, particularly derivatives of furan, thiazole, and imidazole, have been synthesized and subjected to some degree of biological evaluation. (See reviews by Paul and Paul 1964, 1966; Miura and Reckendorf, 1967; Grunberg and Titsworth, 1973; and McCalla, 1979.) Several of these compounds are or have been widely used as antibacterial and antiprotozoal agents, and development of new nitroheterocyclic compounds continues at a rapid pace. However, in the past decade it has become clear that some of these compounds are carcinogenic (Bryan, 1978), and an extensive literature now shows that essentially all nitroheterocycles are mutagenic to Escherichia coli and to the strains of Salmonella typhimurium that contain the pKM 101 plasmid (Tazima et al. 1975; McCann et al. 1975a,b; Klemenic and Wang, 1978).

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Authors
  1. D. R. McCalla
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Carcinogenesis Unit, British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    H. F. Stich (Head) (Head)

  2. Carcinogen Testing Laboratory, British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    R. H. C. San (Chief) (Chief)

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© 1981 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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McCalla, D.R. (1981). Metabolic Activation of Nitroheterocyclic Compounds in Bacteria and Mammalian Cells. In: Stich, H.F., San, R.H.C. (eds) Short-Term Tests for Chemical Carcinogens. Topics in Environmental Physiology and Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5847-6_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5847-6_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-5849-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-5847-6

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