Xanthohumol is under basic research for its potential chemopreventive and anti-restenotic properties. Xanthohumol shows anti mutagenic activity against mutations induced by the food borne mutagen 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ). The mechanism is possibly related to the inhibition of the metabolic activation of IQ by human cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) and the binding of IQ metabolites to DNA and proteins.