Ethyl 3,5,5-trimethylhexanoate

Genetic toxicity: in vitro

Administrative data

Endpoint:

in vitro gene mutation study in bacteria

Type of information:

experimental study

Adequacy of study:

key study

Study period:

From 24 November 2016 to 02 December 2016

Reliability:

1 (reliable without restriction)

Rationale for reliability incl. deficiencies:

guideline study

Data source

Reference

Reference Type:

study report

Title:

Unnamed

Year:

2017

Report date:

2017

Materials and methods

Test guideline

Qualifier:

according to guideline

Guideline:

OECD Guideline 471 (Bacterial Reverse Mutation Assay)

Deviations:

no

GLP compliance:

yes (incl. QA statement)

Type of assay:

bacterial reverse mutation assay

Test material

Test material information

Constituent 1

Reference substance name:

Ethyl 3,5,5-trimethylhexanoate

EC Number:

266-959-4

EC Name:

Ethyl 3,5,5-trimethylhexanoate

Cas Number:

67707-75-9

Molecular formula:

C11H22O2

IUPAC Name:

ethyl 3,5,5-trimethylhexanoate

Method

Species / strain

Species / strain / cell type:

S. typhimurium TA 1535, TA 1537, TA 98, TA 100 and E. coli WP2

Metabolic activation:

with and without

Metabolic activation system:

S9 mix

Test concentrations with justification for top dose:

-Experiment 1:
1.5, 5, 15, 50, 150, 500, 1500, 5000 µg/plate.

-Experiment 2:
Salmonella strains TA100, TA1535, TA98 and TA1537 (without S9): 0.15, 0.5, 1.5, 5, 15, 50, 150, 500 µg/plate.
Salmonella strains TA100, TA1535, TA98 and TA1537 (with S9) and E.coli strain WP2uvrA (without S9): 0.5, 1.5, 5, 15, 50, 150, 500, 1500 µg/plate.
E.coli strain WP2uvrA (with S9): 1.5, 5, 15, 50, 150, 500, 1500, 5000 µg/plate.

Vehicle / solvent:

Dimethyl sulphoxide was selected as the vehicle.

Controls

Untreated negative controls:

yes

Negative solvent / vehicle controls:

yes

True negative controls:

no

Positive controls:

yes

Positive control substance:

4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide

9-aminoacridine

N-ethyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine

benzo(a)pyrene

other: 2-Aminoanthracene

Details on test system and experimental conditions:

-Microsomal Enzyme Fraction:
The S9 Microsomal fractions were pre-prepared using standardized in-house procedures (outside the confines of this study). Lot No. PB/NF S9 05 June 2016 was used in this study.

-S9-Mix and Agar:
The S9-mix was prepared before use using sterilized co-factors and maintained on ice for the duration of the test.
S9 5.0 mL
1.65 M KCl/0.4 M MgCl2 1.0 mL
0.1 M Glucose-6-phosphate 2.5 mL
0.1 M NADP 2.0 mL
0.2 M Sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) 25.0 mL
Sterile distilled water 14.5 mL

A 0.5 mL aliquot of S9-mix and 2 mL of molten, trace histidine or tryptophan supplemented, top agar were overlaid onto a sterile Vogel-Bonner Minimal agar plate in order to assess the sterility of the S9-mix. This procedure was repeated, in triplicate, on the day of each experiment.

-Media:
Top agar was prepared using 0.6% Bacto agar (lot number 5223985 06/20) and 0.5% sodium chloride with 5 mL of 1.0 mM histidine and 1.0 mM biotin or 1.0 mM tryptophan solution added to each 100 mL of top agar. Vogel-Bonner Minimal agar plates were purchased from SGL Ltd (lot number 42919 12/16).

-Bacteria:
The five strains of bacteria used, and their mutations, are as follows:
Salmonella typhimurium
Strains Genotype Type of mutations indicated
TA1537 his C 3076; rfa-; uvrB-: frame shift mutations
TA98 his D 3052; rfa-; uvrB-;R-factor
TA1535 his G 46; rfa-; uvrB-: base-pair substitutions
TA100 his G 46; rfa-; uvrB-;R-factor

Escherichia coli
Strain Genotype Type of mutations indicated
WP2uvrA trp-; uvrA-: base-pair substitution

All of the Salmonella strains are histidine dependent by virtue of a mutation through the histidine operon and are derived from S. typhimurium strain LT2 through mutations in the histidine locus. Additionally due to the "deep rough" (rfa-) mutation they possess a faulty lipopolysaccharide coat to the bacterial cell surface thus increasing the cell permeability to larger molecules. A further mutation, through the deletion of the uvrB- bio gene, causes an inactivation of the excision repair system and a dependence on exogenous biotin. In the strains TA98 and TA100, the R factor plasmid pKM101 enhances chemical and UV-induced mutagenesis via an increase in the error prone repair pathway. The plasmid also confers ampicillin resistance which acts as a convenient marker (Mortelmans and Zeiger, 2000). In addition to a mutation in the tryptophan operon, the E. coli tester strain contains a uvrA- DNA repair deficiency which enhances its sensitivity to some mutagenic compounds. This deficiency allows the strain to show enhanced mutability as the uvrA repair system would normally act to remove and repair the damaged section of the DNA molecule (Green and Muriel, 1976 and Mortelmans and Riccio, 2000).

-The bacteria used in the test were obtained from:
• University of California, Berkeley, on culture discs, on 04 August 1995.
• British Industrial Biological Research Association, on a nutrient agar plate, on 17 August 1987.

All of the strains were stored at approximately -196 °C in a Statebourne liquid nitrogen freezer, model SXR 34.

In this assay, overnight sub-cultures of the appropriate coded stock cultures were prepared in nutrient broth (Oxoid Limited; lot number 1865318 05/21) and incubated at 37 °C for approximately 10 hours. Each culture was monitored spectrophotometrically for turbidity with titres determined by viable count analysis on nutrient agar plates.

-Test Item Preparation and Analysis:
The test item was immiscible in sterile distilled water at 50 mg/mL but was fully miscible in dimethyl sulphoxide at the same concentration in solubility checks performed in house. Dimethyl sulphoxide was therefore selected as the vehicle.

The test item was accurately weighed and approximate half-log dilutions prepared in dimethyl sulphoxide by mixing on a vortex mixer on the day of each experiment. No correction was made for purity. Prior to use, the solvent was dried to remove water using molecular sieves i.e. 2 mm sodium alumino silicate pellets with a nominal pore diameter of 4 x 10^-4 microns.

All formulations were used within four hours of preparation and were assumed to be stable for this period. Analysis for concentration, homogeneity and stability of the test item formulations is not a requirement of the test guidelines and was, therefore, not determined. This is an exception with regard to GLP and has been reflected in the GLP compliance statement.


-Dose selection:
The test item was tested using the following method. The maximum concentration was 5000 µg/plate (the maximum recommended dose level). Eight concentrations of the test item (1.5, 5, 15, 50, 150, 500, 1500 and 5000 µg/plate) were assayed in triplicate against each tester strain. Following Sponsor confirmation of potential test item volatility, the pre incubation method was employed throughout.

-Without Metabolic Activation:
0.1 mL of the appropriate bacterial strain culture, 0.5 mL of phosphate buffer and 0.1 mL of the test item formulation, solvent vehicle or 0.1 mL of appropriate positive control were incubated at 37 ± 3 °C for 20 minutes (with shaking) in sealed containers prior to addition of 2 mL of molten, trace amino-acid supplemented media and subsequent plating onto Vogel Bonner plates. After pouring and setting, the Vogel-Bonner agar plates were placed in anaerobic jars (one jar for each concentration of test item/vehicle) during the incubation procedure to minimize potential losses of test item from the plates. Negative (untreated) controls were also performed on the same day as the mutation test employing the plate incorporation method where 0.1 mL of the appropriate bacterial strain culture was mixed with 2 mL of molten, trace amino-acid supplemented media. These were then mixed and overlayed onto a Vogel Bonner agar plate. All testing for this experiment was performed in triplicate.

-With Metabolic Activation:
The procedure was the same as described previously except that following the addition of the test item formulation and bacterial strain culture, 0.5 mL of S9 mix was added to the tube instead of phosphate buffer, prior to incubation at 37 ± 3 °C for 20 minutes (with shaking) and addition of molten, trace amino-acid supplemented media. All testing for this experiment was performed in triplicate.

-Incubation and Scoring:
All of the plates were incubated at 37 ± 3 °C for approximately 48 hours and scored for the presence of revertant colonies using an automated colony counting system. The plates were viewed microscopically for evidence of thinning (toxicity). Several manual counts were required due to revertant colonies spreading slightly, thus distorting the actual plate count.


-Dose selection:
The dose range used for Experiment 2 was determined by the results of Experiment 1 and was as follows:

Salmonella strains TA100, TA1535, TA98 and TA1537 (without S9): 0.15, 0.5, 1.5, 5, 15, 50, 150, 500 µg/plate.
Salmonella strains TA100, TA1535, TA98 and TA1537 (with S9) and E.coli strain WP2uvrA (without S9): 0.5, 1.5, 5, 15, 50, 150, 500, 1500 µg/plate.
E.coli strain WP2uvrA (with S9): 1.5, 5, 15, 50, 150, 500, 1500, 5000 µg/plate.

Eight test item concentrations per bacterial strain were selected in Experiment 2 in order to achieve both four non toxic dose levels and the toxic limit of the test item.

-Without Metabolic Activation
Testing was performed as outlined in Experiment 1

-With Metabolic Activation
Testing was performed as outlined in Experiment 1

-Incubation and Scoring
All of the plates were incubated at 37 ± 3 °C for approximately 48 hours and scored for the presence of revertant colonies using an automated colony counting system. The plates were viewed microscopically for evidence of thinning (toxicity).

-Acceptability Criteria
The reverse mutation assay may be considered valid if the following criteria are met:

All bacterial strains must have demonstrated the required characteristics as determined by their respective strain checks according to Ames et al., (1975), Maron and Ames (1983) and Mortelmans and Zeiger (2000).
All tester strain cultures should exhibit a characteristic number of spontaneous revertants per plate in the vehicle and untreated controls (negative controls). Acceptable ranges are presented as follows:

TA1535 7 to 40
TA100 60 to 200
TA1537 2 to 30
TA98 8 to 60
WP2uvrA 10 to 60

All tester strain cultures should be in the range of 0.9 to 9 x 10^9 bacteria per mL.

Diagnostic mutagens (positive control chemicals) must be included to demonstrate both the intrinsic sensitivity of the tester strains to mutagen exposure and the integrity of the S9-mix. All of the positive control chemicals used in the study should induce marked increases in the frequency of revertant colonies, both with or without metabolic activation.

There should be a minimum of four non-toxic test item dose levels.

There should be no evidence of excessive contamination.

Evaluation criteria:

There are several criteria for determining a positive result. Any, one, or all of the following can be used to determine the overall result of the study:

1. A dose-related increase in mutant frequency over the dose range tested (De Serres and Shelby, 1979).
2. A reproducible increase at one or more concentrations.
3. Biological relevance against in-house historical control ranges.
4. Statistical analysis of data as determined by UKEMS (Mahon et al., 1989).
5. Fold increase greater than two times the concurrent solvent control for any tester strain (especially if accompanied by an out of historical range response (Cariello and Piegorsch, 1996)).

A test item will be considered non-mutagenic (negative) in the test system if the above criteria are not met.

Although most experiments will give clear positive or negative results, in some instances the data generated will prohibit making a definite judgment about test item activity. Results of this type will be reported as equivocal.

Statistics:

Statistical significance was confirmed by using Dunnetts Regression Analysis (* = p < 0.05) for those values that indicate statistically significant increases in the frequency of revertant colonies compared to the concurrent solvent control.

Results and discussion

Test results

Test results 1

Key result

Species / strain:

S. typhimurium TA 1537

Metabolic activation:

with and without

Genotoxicity:

negative

Cytotoxicity / choice of top concentrations:

cytotoxicity

Vehicle controls validity:

valid

Untreated negative controls validity:

valid

Positive controls validity:

valid

Test results 2

Key result

Species / strain:

S. typhimurium TA 1535

Metabolic activation:

with and without

Genotoxicity:

negative

Cytotoxicity / choice of top concentrations:

cytotoxicity

Vehicle controls validity:

valid

Untreated negative controls validity:

valid

Positive controls validity:

valid

Test results 3

Key result

Species / strain:

S. typhimurium TA 98

Metabolic activation:

with and without

Genotoxicity:

negative

Cytotoxicity / choice of top concentrations:

cytotoxicity

Vehicle controls validity:

valid

Untreated negative controls validity:

valid

Positive controls validity:

valid

Test results 4

Key result

Species / strain:

S. typhimurium TA 100

Metabolic activation:

with and without

Genotoxicity:

negative

Cytotoxicity / choice of top concentrations:

cytotoxicity

Vehicle controls validity:

valid

Untreated negative controls validity:

valid

Positive controls validity:

valid

Test results 5

Key result

Species / strain:

E. coli WP2 uvr A

Metabolic activation:

with and without

Genotoxicity:

negative

Cytotoxicity / choice of top concentrations:

cytotoxicity

Vehicle controls validity:

valid

Untreated negative controls validity:

valid

Positive controls validity:

valid

Additional information on results:

Prior to use, the master strains were checked for characteristics, viability and spontaneous reversion rate (all were found to be satisfactory). The amino acid supplemented top agar and the S9-mix used in both experiments was shown to be sterile. The test item formulation was also shown to be sterile. These data are not given in the report.

Results for the negative controls (spontaneous mutation rates) are presented in Table 1 and were considered to be acceptable. These data are for concurrent untreated control plates performed on the same day as the Mutation Test.

The individual plate counts, the mean number of revertant colonies and the standard deviations, for the test item, positive and vehicle controls, both with and without metabolic activation, are presented in Table 2 and Table 3 for Experiment 1 and Table 4 and Table 5 for Experiment 2.

The maximum dose level of the test item in the first experiment was selected as the maximum recommended dose level of 5000 µg/plate. In the first mutation test, the test item caused a visible reduction in the growth of the bacterial background lawns of all of the bacterial tester strains initially from 150 µg/plate in the absence of S9-mix and 500 µg/plate in the presence S9 mix. Consequently the maximum dose level (5000 µg/plate) or the toxic limit of the test item was employed in the second mutation test, depending on bacterial strain type or presence and absence of S9-mix. In the second mutation test, the test item again induced a toxic response with weakened bacterial background lawns initially noted in the absence of S9-mix from 15 µg/plate. In the presence of S9-mix, weakened bacterial background lawns were initially noted from 150 µg/plate. The sensitivity of the bacterial tester strains to the toxicity of the test item varied slightly between strain type, exposures with or without S9-mix and experiments. No test item precipitate was observed on the plates at any of the doses tested in either the presence or absence of S9-mix.

There were no significant increases in the frequency of revertant colonies recorded for any of the bacterial strains, with any dose of the test item, either with or without metabolic activation (S9-mix) in Experiment 1. Similarly, no significant increases in the frequency of revertant colonies were recorded for any of the bacterial strains, with any dose of the test item, either with or without metabolic activation (S9-mix) in Experiment 2.

The vehicle (dimethyl sulphoxide) control plates gave counts of revertant colonies within the normal range. All of the positive control chemicals used in the test induced marked increases in the frequency of revertant colonies, both with or without metabolic activation. Thus, the sensitivity of the assay and the efficacy of the S9-mix were validated.

Any other information on results incl. tables

See table 1 to 5 for detailed results

Applicant's summary and conclusion

Conclusions:

Test substance was considered to be non-mutagenic under the conditions of this test.

Executive summary:

The test method was designed to be compatible with the guidelines for bacterial mutagenicity testing published by the major Japanese Regulatory Authorities including METI, MHLW and MAFF, the OECD Guidelines for Testing of Chemicals No. 471 "Bacterial Reverse Mutation Test", Method B13/14 of Commission Regulation (EC) number 440/2008 of 30 May 2008 and the USA, EPA OCSPP harmonized guideline - Bacterial Reverse Mutation Test.

Salmonella typhimuriumstrains TA1535, TA1537, TA98 and TA100 andEscherichia colistrain WP2uvrAwere treated with the test item using the Ames pre-incubation method at eight dose levels, in triplicate, both with and without the addition of a rat liver homogenate metabolizing system (10% liver S9 in standard co-factors). The dose range for Experiment 1 was predetermined and was 1.5 to 5000 mg/plate. The experiment was repeated on a separate day (pre-incubation method) using fresh cultures of the bacterial strains and fresh test item formulations. The dose range was amended following the results of Experiment 1 and ranged between 0.15 and 5000 µg/plate, depending on bacterial strain type and presence or absence of S9-mix. Eight test item concentrations per bacterial strain were selected in Experiment 2 in order to achieve both four non‑toxic dose levels and the toxic limit of the test item.

The vehicle (dimethyl sulphoxide) control plates gave counts of revertant colonies within the normal range. All of the positive control chemicals used in the test induced marked increases in the frequency of revertant colonies, both with or without metabolic activation. Thus, the sensitivity of the assay and the efficacy of the S9-mix were validated.

The maximum dose level of the test item in the first experiment was selected as the maximum recommended dose level of 5000 µg/plate. In the first mutation test, the test item caused a visible reduction in the growth of the bacterial background lawns of all of the bacterial tester strains initially from 150 µg/plate in the absence of S9-mix and 500 µg/plate in the presence S9‑mix. Consequently the maximum dose level (5000 µg/plate) or the toxic limit of the test item was employed in the second mutation test, depending on bacterial strain type or presence and absence of S9-mix. In the second mutation test, the test item again induced a toxic response with weakened bacterial background lawns initially noted in the absence of S9-mix from 15 µg/plate. In the presence of S9-mix, weakened bacterial background lawns were initially noted from 150 µg/plate. The sensitivity of the bacterial tester strains to the toxicity of the test item varied slightly between strain type, exposures with or without S9-mix and experiments. No test item precipitate was observed on the plates at any of the doses tested in either the presence or absence of S9-mix.

There were no significant increases in the frequency of revertant colonies recorded for any of the bacterial strains, with any dose of the test item, either with or without metabolic activation (S9-mix) in Experiment 1. Similarly, no significant increases in the frequency of revertant colonies were recorded for any of the bacterial strains, with any dose of the test item, either with or without metabolic activation (S9-mix) in Experiment 2. 

Test substance was considered to be non-mutagenic under the conditions of this test.