Investigation of factors influencing urinary porphyrin excretion in rats: strain, gender, and age

HPLC methods for analysis of porphyrins in biological media

Changes in porphyrin concentrations in biological media may serve as biological indicators of exposure and toxicity from a wide variety of drugs and chemical agents. This unit describes procedures for quantitative extraction of porphyrins from urine, feces, blood, and biological tissues as well as their separation and analysis by HAPLY spectrofluorometrc techniques.

Alterations in the heme biosynthetic pathway from the III-V semiconductor metal, indium arsenide (InAs)

The effects of indium and arsenic on the heme biosynthetic pathway have been well documented but the effects of indium arsenide (InAs), the next possible generation of the III-V semiconductors, are unknown. Male Syrian golden hamsters were given s.c. injections of sodium arsenite (As3+), indium chloride (In3+) or indium arsenide (InAs). Erythrocyte delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activity was inhibited in all exposure groups, while hepatic ALAD activity was not significantly changed. In contrast, the activity of renal ALAD was found to be statistically decreased by As3+ at 10 days, but increased at 30 days, while In3+ and InAs inhibited this enzyme activity at all time points. In vitro studies showed that hepatic ALAD activity was more sensitive to In3+ than As3+, suggesting that the effects of InAs in vivo on this enzyme are due primarily to the In rather than the As moiety. Studies of urinary porphyrin excretion patterns in animals treated with InAs showed marked, early 2-4-fold increase in the excretion of the penta-, hexa- and heptacarboxyl porphyrin at 1-5 days which continued through day 30 of the study. In contrast, there was a slow and steady rise in the excretion of coproporphyrin I and III which reached a maximum at day 30. The results of these studies indicate that both the In and As moieties of InAs are biologically active following InAs exposure and that the enzymes in the heme pathway, such as ALAD, may have great utility as markers of exposure/toxicity for these agents.

Quantitative evaluation of heme biosynthetic pathway parameters as biomarkers of low-level lead exposure in rats

Erythrocyte delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activity, erythrocyte zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP)/heme ratio, and urinary coproporphyrin (UC) concentration have been employed as biological indicators of moderate-to high-level lead exposure, corresponding to blood levels in excess of 50 micrograms/dl, in human subjects. The comparative efficacy of these measures as indicators of lead exposure consistent with sustained lower blood lead levels has not been systematically evaluated. In the present studies, we examined the relative sensitivity and magnitude of response of these three bioindicators in rats during chronic exposure to 0, 100, or 1000 ppm lead as lead acetate in drinking water for up to 10 wk, followed by a 10-wk postexposure period, with weekly assessments, or during subchronic exposure to 0 or 1000 ppm lead as lead acetate in drinking water for 6 d, with daily assessments. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine if the lead-treated rats differed from controls and to distinguish between dose groups with respect to the three biochemical indices of lead exposure. The data were normalized by conversion to Z scores in order to compare indicators with regard to magnitude of change in response to lead treatment. The order of sensitivity of each indicator was determined by considering the magnitude of the correlation coefficient (r) between the indicator and the blood lead concentration in each study. The indicators in order of decreasing sensitivity to lead in the chronic study were UC > ZPP/heme > ALAD. The indicators in order of decreasing magnitude of change in response to change in blood lead level were also UC > ZPP/heme > ALAD. None of the heme pathway parameters was judged a satisfactory substitute for direct blood lead measurement as an indicator of low-level lead exposure. However, urinary coproporphyrin appears most useful in this respect owing to highest sensitivity and magnitude of change relative to blood lead content and relatively low variation of mean coproporphyrin levels.

Urinary porphyrins as biological indicators of oxidative stress in the kidney. Interaction of mercury and cephaloridine

Reduced porphyrins (hexahydroporphyrins, porphyrinogens) are readily oxidized in vitro by free radicals which are known to mediate oxidative stress in tissue cells. To determine if increased urinary porphyrin concentrations may reflect oxidative stress to the kidney in vivo, we measured the urinary porphyrin content of rats treated with mercury as methyl mercury hydroxide (MMH) or cephaloridine, both nephrotoxic, oxidative stress-inducing agents. Rats exposed to MMH at 5 ppm in the drinking water for 4 weeks showed a 4-fold increase in 24-hr total urinary porphyrin content and a 1.3-fold increase in urinary malondialdehyde (MDA), an established measure of oxidative stress in vivo. Treatment with cephaloridine alone (10-500 mg/kg, i.p.) produced a dose-related increase in urinary MDA and total porphyrin levels up to 1.6 and 7 times control values, respectively. Injection of MMH-treated rats with cephaloridine (500 mg/kg) caused a synergistic (20-fold) increase in urinary porphyrin levels, but an additive (1.9-fold) increase in the MDA concentration. Studies in vitro demonstrated that cephaloridine stimulated the iron-catalyzed H2O2-dependent oxidation of porphyrinogens to porphyrins in the absence of either microsomes or mitochondria. Additionally, porphyrinogens were oxidized to porphyrins in an iron-dependent microsomal lipid peroxidation system. Moreover, porphyrinogens served as an effective antioxidant (EC50 approximately 1-2 microM) to lipid peroxidation. These results demonstrate that MMH and cephaloridine synergistically, as well as individually, promote increased oxidation of reduced porphyrins in the kidney and that this action may be mechanistically linked to oxidative stress elicited by these chemicals. Increased urinary porphyrin levels may, therefore, represent a sensitive indicator of oxidative stress in the kidney in vivo.