Title: Biological screening of Ah receptor agonist activity in butter fat and coconut oil by means of chemical-activated luciferase expression in a genetically engineered cell line (CALUX)

Auteur(s): Bovee TFH ; Hoogenboom LAP ; Traag WA ; Zuidema T ; Hortsman JHJ ; Aarts JMMJG ; Murk TJ ; Brouwer A ; Denison MS ; Kuiper HA ;  ; 

Year: 1996

Journal: Organohalogen Compounds

Subject(s): Ah receptor ; CALUX ; polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons ; polychlorinated ; polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins ; PCBs ; PCB ; food ; tumor promotion ; dioxin ; dioxins ; dioxin-like compounds ; Luciferase ; gene expression ; Biomarker ; analysis ; bioassay ; PAH ;  ; 

Summary: Polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (pHAHs), su h as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and biphenyls (PCBs) represent a class of widespread environmental contaminants. Their lipophilic nature and persistence contribute to their high . bioaccumulation potential and their biomagnitication in higher tropic levels of the food chain. Exposure to specific PHAHs results in a ,vide variety of species- and tissue-specific toxic and biologica1 effects, including: birth defects, immunotoxicity, lethality, tumor promotion and enzyme induction. Many of these effects are mediated by the ability of certain PHAHs to bind to the soluble intracellular aromatic hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). This is followed by a transformation of the PHAH:AhR complex and translocation of the transformed complex to the nucleus, where it binds with. high affinity to DNA on a specific dioxin responsive element (DRB). Normally this results in an increased transcription of genes coding for enzymes, like cytochrome P450 IA and glucuronyl transferase. Biologica1 tests for detecting the presence of dioxins and dioxin-like compounds in food, or environmental samples are a promising alternative for the often expensive and time-consuming analytical methods. Recently it was shown that newly developed cell lines showing Ah receptor-mediated chemical-activated luciferase gene expression (CALUX) provide a reliable biomarker for AhR-mediated effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the CALUX-bioassay can he used for screening of food products. Therefore, a comparison was made between levels of dioxins and PCBs in butter fat samples, as determined by the CALUX-bioassay and gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) analysis. Using oil prepared from smoked coconuts, we also studied the possible use of the bioassay for the determination of carcinogenic polycyclic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in food products. In these studies, special attention was paid to the development of relatively simple and fast procedures for the preparation of suitable extracts for the bioassay.