Genotoxicity of N-nitrosothiazolidine in microbial and hepatocellular test systems.

The genotoxicity of N-nitrosothiazolidine was studied in a microbial system and in a hepatocellular system. The compound showed positive responses in both tests, exhibiting weak mutagenicity at the lowest level tested (1 mg/plate) in the rec assay in Bacillus subtilis, and inducing statistically significant levels of DNA repair in primary hepatocyte cultures at concentrations ranging from 2 X 10(-4) to 2 X 10(-3) M.