Hepatic nuclear and cytoplasmic effects following intermittent feeding of rats with di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate

Migration resistant, blood-compatible plasticized polyvinyl chloride for medical and related applications

Plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC), although not a blood-compatible polymer, is the material of choice for the manufacture of blood bags and hemodialysis tubing throughout the world. PVC is usually plasticized with di-(2-ethylhexyl phthalate) (DEHP) to impart flexibility and low temperature properties to the final product. DEHP belongs to a class of agents called hypolipidemic hepatocarcinogens, and it migrates in small quantities into the storage medium such as blood, plasma, or serum, resulting in a number of toxic effects. It has been shown that the migration resistance and blood compatibility of flexible PVC could be significantly improved by grafting polyethylene glycol (PEG), the most blood-compatible polymer known today, onto the surface of flexible PVC by the classical Williamson ether synthesis reaction. The technique is simple and versatile enough to produce blood-compatible, migration resistant PVC surfaces for many medical applications. The method may also find use for preventing plasticizer migration from PVC cling films and polyvinylidene chloride films used extensively in food packaging.

Evidence for and possible mechanisms of non-genotoxic carcinogenesis in rodent liver

Doses of chemicals which induce hepatocellular necrosis usually induce hepatic tumours if the dosing is frequent and is maintained for long periods. Such necrosis is usually evident within 48 h of the first administration. Similarly, chemicals that lead to marked proliferation of peroxisomes in the liver also usually induce hepatic tumours on pretracked regular dosing. For both of these phenomena failure to produce a certain level of effect, or to maintain it for sufficiently long periods, can result in the observation of a non-carcinogenic response. The exact dose/time requirements for carcinogenicity have not been defined and may be species/strain/sex-specific. Some chemicals induce liver enlargement and mitogenesis in the absence of overt hepatotoxic effects. The early phases of hepatomegaly are associated with mitogenic effects that can be measured as cells in S-phase within the first few days of administration. The later stages of hepatomegaly appear to be associated more with cellular hypertrophy. Both effects appear to be threshold-related. Further, sustained hepatomegaly is associated with proliferation of SER and the induction of a range of liver enzymes. These changes (mitogenesis, hepatomegaly, enzyme induction), in isolation, are less definitive indicators of carcinogenicity, but they occur for a sufficient number of liver-specific carcinogens that their role as early indicators is worthy of confirmed study. The major area of study required for all possible early markers of hepatocarcinogenicity is to establish the dose and time dependence of these changes in relation to the eventual appearance of tumours. Finally, the specificity of all these markers require evaluation by the study of appropriate non-carcinogens.