The sensitivities of creatine and adenylate kinases to the neurotoxins acrylamide and methyl n-butyl ketone

Recent advances in flue gas desulfurization gypsum processes and applications - A review

Flue gas desulfurization gypsum (FGDG) is an industrial by-product generated during the flue gas desulfurization process in coal-fired power plants. Due to its abundance, chemical and physical properties, FGDG has been used in several beneficial applications. However, during the past decade, the rate of beneficially used FGDG has gradually decreased, while its production has drastically increased. The presence of hazardous elements such as arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead, and selenium in FGDG has reduced its beneficial value. Nevertheless, due to the recent developments in flue gas desulfurization processes, the "modern" FGDG contains lesser amounts of these elements, thus increasing its beneficial value and appeal to be included in other products. Hence, there are novel and traditional FGDG applications in different reuse scenarios investigated recently that have been deemed to pose minimal environmental concern - these need to be better understood. This review summarizes beneficial FGDG applications that have been deemed to pose minimal environmental concern, emphasizing their principles, research gaps, and potential developments, with the aim of increasing the reuse rate of FGDG.

Structure-Toxicity Analysis of Type-2 Alkenes: In Vitro Neurotoxicity

Acrylamide (ACR) is a conjugated type-2 alkene that produces synaptic toxicity presumably by sulfhydryl adduction. The alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl of ACR is a soft electrophile and, therefore, adduction of nucleophilic thiol groups could occur through a conjugate (Michael) addition reaction. To address the mechanism of thiol adduct formation and corresponding neurotoxicological importance, we defined structure-toxicity relationships among a series of conjugated type-2 alkenes (1 microM-10mM), which included acrolein and methylvinyl ketone. Results show that exposure of rat striatal synaptosomes to these chemicals produced parallel, concentration-dependent neurotoxic effects that were correlated to loss of free sulfhydryl groups. Although differences in relative potency were evident, all conjugated analogs tested were equiefficacious with respect to maximal neurotoxicity achieved. In contrast, nonconjugated alkene or aldehyde congeners did not cause synaptosomal dysfunction or sulfhydryl loss. Acrolein and other alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyls are bifunctional (electrophilic reactivity at the C-1 and C-3 positions) and could produce in vitro neurotoxicity by forming protein cross-links rather than thiol monoadducts. Immunoblot analysis detected slower migrating, presumably derivatized, synaptosomal proteins only at very high acrolein concentrations (>or= 25 mM). Exposure of synaptosomes to high concentrations of ACR (1M), N-ethylmaleimide (10mM), and methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) (100mM) did not alter the gel migration of synaptosomal proteins. Furthermore, hydralazine (1mM), which blocks the formation of protein cross-links, did not affect in vitro acrolein neurotoxicity. Thus, type-2-conjugated alkenes produced synaptosomal toxicity that was linked to a loss of thiol content. This is consistent with our hypothesis that the mechanism of ACR neurotoxicity involves formation of Michael adducts with protein sulfhydryl groups.

Safety assessment of MIBK (methyl isobutyl ketone)

MIBK (Methyl Isobutyl Ketone) is an aliphatic ketone that functions as both a denaturant and solvent in cosmetic products. Current use in cosmetic products is very limited, but MIBK is reported to be used in one nail correction pen (volume = 3 ml) at a concentration of 21%. The maximum percutaneous absorption rate in guinea pigs is 1.1 micromol/min/cm2 at 10 to 45 min. Metabolites include 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-pentanone (oxidation product) and 4-methyl-2-pentanol (4-MPOL) (reduction product). Values for the serum half-life and total clearance time of MIBK in animals were 66 min and 6 h, respectively. In clinical tests, most of the absorbed MIBK had been eliminated from the body 90 min post exposure. MIBK was not toxic via the oral or dermal route of exposure in acute, short-term, or subchronic animal studies, except that nephrotoxicity was observed in rats dosed with 1 g/kg in a short-term study. MIBK was an ocular and skin irritant in animal tests. Ocular irritation was noted in 12 volunteers exposed to 200 ppm MIBK for 15 min in a clinical test. A depression of the vestibulo-oculomotor reflex was seen with intravenous infusion of MIBK (in an emulsion) at 30 microM/kg/min in female rats. The no-observed-effect level in rats exposed orally to MIBK was 50 mg/kg. Both gross and microscopic evidence of lung damage were reported in acute inhalation toxicity studies in animals. Short-term and subchronic inhalation exposures (as low as 100 ppm) produced effects in the kidney and liver that were species and sex dependent. Dermal doses of 300 or 600 mg/kg for 4 months in rats produced reduced mitotic activity in hair follicles, increased thickness of horny and granular cell layers of the epidermis, a decrease in the number of reactive centers in follicles (spleen), an increase in the number of iron-containing pigments in the area of the red pulp (spleen), and a reduction in the lipid content of the cortical layer of the adrenal glands. Neuropathological changes in the most distal portions of the tibial and ulnar nerves were observed in young adult rats which inhaled 1500 ppm MIBK for up to 5 months. No adverse effects were seen in any other neurological end point by any route of exposure in other studies using rats or other animal species. Clinical tests demonstrated a threshold for MIBK-induced irritation of the lungs at 0.03 to 0.1 mg/L after 1 min of respiration. MIBK was not mutagenic in the Ames test or in a mitotic gene-conversion assay in bacteria. Mammalian mutagenicity test results were also negative in the following assays: mouse lymphoma, unscheduled DNA synthesis, micronucleus, cell transformation, and chromosome damage. MIBK did not induce any treatment-related increases in embryotoxicity or fetal malformations in pregnant Fischer 344 rats or CD-1 mice that inhaled MIBK at concentrations of 300, 1000, or 3000 ppm. There was evidence of treatment-related maternal toxicity only at the highest concentration tested. MIBK applied to the tail of rats daily at doses of 300 or 600 mg/kg for 4 months produced changes in the testes, including a reduction in the number of spermatocytes, spermatids, and spermatozoa. An ongoing carcinogenicity study of MIBK being conducted by the National Toxicology Program will be considered when the results are available. On the basis of the information that is currently available, MIBK is considered safe as used in nail polish removers and as an alcohol denaturant in cosmetic products.

Effects of acrylamide and N,N'-methylene-bis-acrylamide on creatine kinase activity

In vitro, both acrylamide and N,N'-methylene-bis-acrylamide inhibited creatine kinase (CK) activity from brain or sciatic nerve with almost the same potency. In vivo, only acrylamide (50 mg/kg b. wt./day, 8 days) caused paralysis of hind limbs and suppressed CK activity in cerebrum, cerebellum, spinal cord and muscle in rats. Bis-acrylamide (50 mg or 100 mg/kg b. wt./day, 8 days) caused no paralysis nor inhibition of CK activity in any tissue examined. Definite inhibition of CK was not found in sciatic nerve from rats given either chemical. The inhibition of CK may play a role in the genesis of toxicity of acrylamide especially in the central nervous system.

Inhibition of creatine kinase activity by ethylene oxide

Exposure of rats to 500 ppm ethylene oxide for six hours a day, three times a week, for 12 weeks, lowered serum creatine kinase activity by more than 40%. The only other change was a slightly decreased triglyceride concentration. After four weeks of exposure, neither aspartate aminotransferase nor lactate dehydrogenase activity in brain, spinal cord, and muscle was affected but creatine kinase activity was clearly inhibited. In vitro, ethylene oxide inhibited creatine kinase activity in brain homogenate and in a purified muscle enzyme preparation. Dithiothreitol did not counteract the effect of ethylene oxide. Though the amount of sulphydryl groups in purified creatine kinase was decreased considerably by exposure to ethylene oxide, the enzyme still showed moderate activity. Thus ethylene oxide inhibits creatine kinase activity in vivo and in vitro and the inhibition appears to be unrelated to the disruption of sulphydryl groups in the enzyme.

Amine-mediated toxicity. The effects of dopamine, norepinephrine, 5-hydroxytryptamine, 6-hydroxydopamine, ascorbate, glutathione and peroxide on the in vitro activities of creatine and adenylate kinases in the brain of the rat

The effects of several concentrations of amines and reducing agents on the activity of creatine (CK) and adenylate (AK) kinases were determined in homogenates of the brain of the rat at 0 and 37 degrees C. The order of decreasing irreversible inhibition of the enzymes was peroxide, 6-hydroxydopamine, dopamine, norepinephrine, 5-hydroxytryptamine. At 37 degrees C, approx. 50% of the activity of creatine kinase was lost in 30 min in the presence of 20 microM dopamine. 5-Hydroxytryptamine was several orders of magnitude less toxic. The action of dopamine was not prevented by inhibition of monoamine oxidase, chelation of metals or the addition of a catalase, indicating that formation of peroxide by monoamine oxidase was not the primary cause of the loss of enzyme. Although auto-oxidation of dopamine to a toxic quinone was considered, the degree of inhibition of creatine kinase was not affected when auto-oxidation was prevented under anaerobic conditions. Glutathione (GSH), present during the incubation, protected the enzymes but could not restore activity after exposure to amine. Concentrations of glutathione above 5 mM and of oxidized glutathione as low as 10 microM inhibited creatine kinase. Ascorbate protected the enzymes even when present at a concentration much less than that of the amine, but ascorbate was itself toxic. The findings indicate that dopamine, at concentrations attained after drug-induced release or ischemia, can be toxic to a metabolic enzyme present in the synaptosomal membrane.

The influence of systemic factors on acrylamide-induced changes in brain, nerve, and other tissues

In order to define the locus of acrylamide neurotoxicity, the effects of chronic intoxication (total dose 500 mg/kg) on cholinergic synthesis and transport, the Schwann cell-myelin complex, lysosomal activity, and several metabolic pathways were determined in rat sciatic nerve, spinal cord, and brain. No changes were found in hematological measures or in the levels of clinically important blood enzymes, indicating no major damage to other organs. The activities of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide phosphohydrolase, beta-glucuronidase, and lactate dehydrogenase were unaffected in acrylamide paralyzed animals, but creatine kinase (CK) decreased in sciatic nerve, muscle, and brain, particularly in animals dying of the intoxication. CK blood and the CK isoenzyme patterns in blood were unchanged. The synthesis of protein in brain and spinal cord (measured in vivo) were decreased in rats exposed to high-dose acrylamide. However, in brain and cord, CK decreased only after animals became systemically ill and suffered weight loss, with the lowest activities in those animals sick enough to die. The degree of stress to which the animals had been subjected was indicated by enlargement of the adrenal glands and decreased sulfolipid synthesis in the adrenals. Rats exposed to 25 mg/kg/day acrylamide to a total dose of 250 mg/kg developed leg weakness but not paralysis or weight loss and had a 25% decrease in CK only in the distal sciatic nerve. Because of the apparently stress-related or agonal loss of CK, no specific effect of acrylamide on the enzyme could be definitely demonstrated. Neither could the changes in protein synthesis be attributed solely to a direct effect of the toxin. These results illustrate the difficulties encountered in interpreting intoxication studies that produce systemic illness and support the suggestion that CK activity may be a useful marker of the severity and duration of the agonal state in studies of postmortem human brain.

Enzyme changes in axon, myelin, and Schwann cells in injured sciatic nerve

Four enzymes related to specific cell functions were assayed in rat sciatic nerve injury by crush (cr) or crush and ligation (cr-lig) after 2, 7, and 15 days in situ. Enzyme activities in segments of sciatic nerve proximal and distal to the injury were compared to those in corresponding segments of the contralateral nerve. Choline acetyltransferase (CAT) activity in the distal portion decreased by 65% for cr and almost to zero for cr-lig by day 7, while in the proximal portions CAT decreased to 70% of control values by 7 days and to 50% at 15 days after cr-lig. The activity of the Schwann cell-myelin-associated enzyme 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide phosphohydrolase (CNP) decreased slowly distal to the injury. Distal to both types of injury the lysosomal enzyme beta-glucuronidase (GLR) increased six- to eightfold by 15 days. Proximal to injury GLR also increased (P cr X 2.5, P cr-lig X 5) but the peak proximally was attained by day 7. Despite interruption of axonally transported enzymes, the activities of the metabolic enzyme creatine kinase (CK) increased distal to injury apparently reflecting changes in the functions of the Schwann cells. The loss of metabolic enzymes from the axonal compartment may be completely obscured by reciprocal changes in the non-neuronal compartments if the activity is present in both compartments.