Title: Enhancing effect of indigocarmine on the mutagenicity of Trp-P-1 in the Salmonella/microsome.
Abstract: The effects of artificial food dyes on the mutagenicity of carcinogenic mutagens were examined using the Salmonella/microsome system. Indigocarmine (IC), an indigoid dye widely used for coloring foods and for clinical tests, enhanced the mutagenic activity of Trp-P-1, a carcinogenic pyrolysate of tryptophan, depending on the dose of IC. His+ revertants of TA 98 induced by Trp-P1 were two to four times greater in the presence of 10 to 50 μg/plate of IC than those in the absence of IC. IC also enhanced the mutagenicity of Trp-P-2, another carcinogenic pyrolysate of tryptophan, while the activities of other mutagens such as MNNG, 4-NQO, AF-2, BP, Glu-P-1 were not affected.