[An in vivo DNA adduct database for carcinogens: O6-alkylguanine, O4-alkylthymine and 8-hydroxyguanine].

Many carcinogens react with DNA and form critical DNA adducts, such as O6-alkylguanine (O6-AG), O4-alkylthymine (O4-AT), and 8-hydroxyguanine (8-OHG). This study provides a database that can be used for molecular dosimetry of these DNA adducts. A literature survey on DNA binding in vivo was done by the Dialog search from the MEDLINE database. We propose a Critical Covalent Binding Index (CCBI) for the assessment of in vivo DNA binding level (expressed as micro mol chemical bound per mol G or T/mmol chemical administered per kg body weight). The number of records and compounds in parenthesis of O6-AG, O4-AT, and 8-OHG were 245(13), 54(4), 79(15), respectively. Since the CCBI values for N-nitrosamine in target organ were higher than for non-target organ, they may provide a useful index for estimation of target organ site and carcinogenic potency. As a case example, CCBI values for O4-AT from animal data were applied for diethylnitrosamine human exposure estimation by diethylnitrosamine.