Ž . Mutation Research 390 1997 233–238 Activity of a nitroalkene derivative, ž / 1- 5-bromofur-2-il -2-bromo-2-nitroethene, in the Salmonellarmicrosome assay and the mouse bone marrow micronucleus test Alberto Ramos a, ) , Angel Vizoso a , Aymee Edreira a , Jose Betancourt b , ´ ´ Mercedes Decalo c ´ a Centro de InÕestigacion y Desarrollo de Medicamentos, AÕe. 26, No. 1605, Ciudad de la Habana, CP 10600, Cuba ´ b Instituto Superior de Ciencias Medicas de La Habana, Facultad ‘Dr. SalÕador Allende’, Laboratorio Central de Farmacologıa, CarÕajal ´ ´ s r n entre Agua Dulce y A, Cerro, Ciudad de la Habana, CP 12000, Cuba c Hospital ‘Luis Dıaz Soto’, AÕe. Monumental, La Habana del Este, Ciudad de la Habana, CP 11700, Cuba ´ Received 25 September 1996; revised 2 January 1997; accepted 2 January 1997 Abstract Ž . Ž . Mutagenicity of a substituted nitroalkene, 1- 5-bromofur-2-il -2-bromo-2-nitroethene BNF was tested in the Ž . Salmonellarmicrosome assay using the strains TA 98, TA 100 and TA 100NR nitroreductase deficient . BNF was a direct Ž . mutagen in TA 98 and TA 100; the response was lowered when exogenous metabolic activation S9 was used. A further decrease in mutagenicity was observed in strain TA 100NR, as compared to the parental TA 100, which showed the involvement of nitroreduction in the overall response elicited by BNF. The micronucleus assay was carried out in Swiss male mice which were given a single i.p. dose of 10–20 mgrkg of BNF dissolved in peanut oil, bone marrow being sampled Ž . 24 and 48 h later. The micronucleated polychromatic erythrocyte counts MNPCE showed a weak response in the dose Ž . range of 10–17.5 mgrkg at the second sampling 48 h and a significant rise for 20 mgrkg at 24 and 48 h. Keywords: Salmonellarreversion assay; Micronucleus assay; Nitroalkene 1. Introduction It is known that some nitroethene derivatives, Ž . X Ž X such as R–CH5C NO R R s aryl, furyl; R s 2 . halogen or a short aliphatic chain , are largely toxic to bacteria, fungi and higher eucaryotes, a typical example being b-nitrostyrenes, where antimicrobial, ) Corresponding author. cytotoxic, antitumoral, amoebicidal and trichomoni- w x cidal actions have been observed 1–4 . Genotoxicity contribution to the toxic effects elicited by these nitroalkene derivatives would deserve consideration as the nitrovinyl group gives an indication of DNA wx damage 5 . In this respect, b-bromo-b-nitrostyrene was found to be a direct mutagen when tested in Salmonella typhimurium strains TA 98 and TA 100 wx 6. 1383-5718r97r$17.00 Copyright q 1997 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Ž . PII S1383-5718 97 00017-7