Comparative study of the antimutagenic properties of vitamins C and E against mutation induced by norfloxacin

Myriam Arriaga Alba¹ , Roberto Rivera Sánchez¹ , Nancy Jannet Ruíz Pérez¹ , Jaime Sánchez Navarrete¹ , Rocío Flores Paz¹ , Araceli Montoya-Estrada² and Juan José Hicks Gómez²

¹Hospital Juárez de México, Dirección de Investigación y Enseñanza, Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional No. 5160, Magdalena de las Salinas, DF, 07760, México

²Departamento de Investigación en Bioquímica y Medicina Ambiental, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Ismael Cosío Villegas, Calzada de Tlalpan 4502, Tlalpan, D.F. 14080, México

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BMC Pharmacology 2008, 8:2doi:10.1186/1471-2210-8-2


Published:	11 February 2008

Abstract

Background

Norfloxacin like other fluoroquinolones, is known to be mutagenic for Salmonella typhimurium TA102 strain. This mutagenic effect is due to free oxygen radicals (ROS), because it is inhibited by antioxidants such as β-carotene and naturally occurring antioxidants of Roheo discolor and other plants. The aim of this work was to evaluate combination therapy with norfloxacin and vitamins C and E, to reduce the possible genotoxic risk associated with fluoroquinolones.

Method

The antimutagenicity of α-tocoferol (Vitamin E) and ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) against norfloxacin-induced mutation was evaluated on S. typhimurium TA102, using the aroclor-1254-induced S9 rat liver homogenate. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) a measure of the bactericidal effect of norfloxacin, was obtained in vitro by the plate dilution method.

Results

Vitamin E (0.5 mg per Petri dish) induced a statistically significant reduction (P < 0.001) in the mutagenicity of norfloxacin, whereas Vitamin C (1 mg per Petri dish) had no such effect. Neither of these vitamins altered the MIC for norfloxacin against 25 uropathogenic strains of Escherichia coli.

Conclusion

These results suggest that Vitamin E is a potent antimutagen that would be worthwhile being used in conjunction with fluoroquinolone treatment. The minimal antimutagenic effect of Vitamin C observed under these experimental conditions may have been because Vitamin C in the Ames test induces a Fenton reaction, and if divalent cations are present, it can act as a pro-oxidant rather than an antioxidant. Ascorbic acid should be further evaluated in the presence of different divalent cations concentrations.