Dioxins cause a variety of toxic effects through transformation of a cytosolic aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). We have previously demonstrated that certain natural flavones and flavonols at the dietary levels suppress AhR transformation. In this study, we investigated whether 5 anthocyanidins, 15 anthocyanins, and protocatechuic acid suppress AhR transformation in mouse hepatoma Hepa-1c1c7 cells. All the compounds tested here at 5 microM unexpectedly failed to suppress the transformation induced by 0.1 nM TCDD, indicating that anthocyan does not have a potential to prevent dioxin toxicity.