Effects of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species induced by ammonium dinitramide decomposition in aqueous solutions of deoxyribose nucleic acid.

Ammonium dinitramide (ADN), a potential rocket fuel, decomposes in water forming NO2. The chemistry of this ADN-released NO2 in oxygenated biological systems is complex both in the number of potential chemical species and in the number of parallel and consecutive reactions that can theoretically occur. High-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) studies revealed ADN fragmented deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA). Damage to DNA standard solutions was caused by at least two major pathways, one arising from reactions of NO2 with oxygen and one arising from a reaction with superoxide (O2-.). The radical species generated when ADN is incubated with standard solutions of DNA, pH 7.5, in the presence of the spin trap agent n-tert-butyl-alpha-nitrone (PBN) was compared with the PBN-radical adducts generated in the presence of ADN and O2-. or of ADN and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The ADN-induced PBN radical adducts increased linearly over the 90-minute study period. The values of peak intensity in the presence of O2-. and in the presence of H2O2, were 828% and 7.08%, respectively, of the ADN-induced radicals alone. The synergistic effect of ADN with O2- may provide an understanding of the sensitivity of the rat blastocyst to aDN at the preimplantation stage of development and the lack of toxicity in in vivo studies in tissues high in catalase.