Table III.

Level of FW-induced DNA strand breaks, EndoIII- and FPG-sensitive sites in Caco2 cells measured with the comet assay (a) PM diet versus VEG diet (n = 16); (b) RM diet versus VEG diet (n = 12) (unadjusted means, comparison within studies)

	Mean	SE	Mean	SE	Mean	SE
(a)	Control slides		PM		VEG
Strand breaks (AU)	113	3	164	13	206*	17
EndoIII sites (AU)	8	2	24	5	26	6
FPG sites (AU)	25	5	39	8	42	7
(b)	Control slides		RM		VEG
Strand breaks (AU)	113	3	167	13	196*	15
EndoIII sites (AU)	8	2	9	4	15	6
FPG sites (AU)	25	5	24	6	28	4

AU, arbitrary units; PM, processed (nitrite-preserved red) meat. P value for paired Students’ t-test of meat versus VEG, *P < 0.05. Control slides were incubated with phosphate-buffered saline and represent the level of background DNA strand breaks.