Differences in metabolism of vinylidene chloride between mice and rats

Cardiac Damage in Rodents after Exposure to Bis(2-chloroethoxy)methane

We report that an environmental agent, bis(2-chloroethoxy)methane (CEM), caused cardiac toxicity in male and female F344 rats and B6C3F1 mice exposed to the chemical by dermal administration at doses of 0, 50, 100, 200, 400 or 600 mg/kg 5 days a week for up to 14 weeks. Treatment-related deaths occurred in 10/10 male and 10/10 female rats at 600 mg/kg, in 2/10 female rats at 400 mg/kg, and in 3/10 female mice at 600 mg/kg. The heart lesions were more severe in rats than mice, and more severe in females than males. In rats, the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for the heart lesions was 200 mg/kg for males and 100 mg/kg for females; in mice, it was more than 600 mg/kg for males and 200 mg/kg for females. Multifocal, widespread vacuolization of the myocytes comprised the main morphological feature of the lesions, and only in rats was it accompanied by mononuclear cell infiltration, myocytic necrosis and atrial thrombosis. Hearts from male rats were immunohistochemically stained for troponin T (cTnT) protein. Loss of cytoplasmic cTnT correlated with histopathological damage only in the 600 mg/kg animals. CEM is metabolized to thiodiglycolic acid, a chemical that causes mitochondrial dysfunction. It is hypothesized that mitochondrial damage leads to the heart toxicity from bis(2-chloroethoxy)methane.

Gene expression of mesothelioma in vinylidene chloride-exposed F344/N rats reveal immune dysfunction, tissue damage, and inflammation pathways

A majority (∼80%) of human malignant mesotheliomas are asbestos-related. However, non-asbestos risk factors (radiation, chemicals, and genetic factors) account for up to 30% of cases. A recent 2-year National Toxicology Program carcinogenicity bioassay showed that male F344/N rats exposed to the industrial toxicant vinylidene chloride (VDC) resulted in a marked increase in malignant mesothelioma. Global gene expression profiles of these tumors were compared to spontaneous mesotheliomas and the F344/N rat mesothelial cell line (Fred-PE) in order to characterize the molecular features and chemical-specific profiles of mesothelioma in VDC-exposed rats. As expected, mesotheliomas from control and VDC-exposed rats shared pathways associated with tumorigenesis, including cellular and tissue development, organismal injury, embryonic development, inflammatory response, cell cycle regulation, and cellular growth and proliferation, while mesotheliomas from VDC-exposed rats alone showed overrepresentation of pathways associated with pro-inflammatory pathways and immune dysfunction such as the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells signaling pathway, interleukin (IL)-8 and IL-12 signaling, interleukin responses, Fc receptor signaling, and natural killer and dendritic cells signaling, as well as overrepresentation of DNA damage and repair. These data suggest that a chronic, pro-inflammatory environment associated with VDC exposure may exacerbate disturbances in oncogene, growth factor, and cell cycle regulation, resulting in an increased incidence of mesothelioma.

Occult Cardiotoxicity—Toxic Effects on Cardiac Ischemic Tolerance

The outcome of cardiac ischemic events depends not only on the extent and duration of the ischemic stimulus but also on the myocardial intrinsic tolerance to ischemic injury. Cardiac ischemic tolerance reflects myocardial functional reserves that are not always used when the tissue is appropriately oxygenated. Ischemic tolerance is modulated by ubiquitous signal transduction pathways, transcription factors and cellular enzymes, converging on the mitochondria as the main end effector. Therefore, drugs and toxins affecting these pathways may impair cardiac ischemic tolerance without affecting myocardial integrity or function in oxygenated conditions. Such effect would not be detected by current toxicological studies but would considerably influence the outcome of ischemic events. The authors refer to such effect as “occult cardiotoxicity.” In this review, the authors summarize current knowledge about main mechanisms that determine cardiac ischemic tolerance, methods to assess it, and the effects of drugs and toxins on it. The authors offer a view that low cardiac ischemic tolerance is a premorbid status and, therefore, that occult cardiotoxicity is a significant potential source of cardiac morbidity. The authors propose that toxicologic assessment of compounds would include the assessment of their effect on cardiac ischemic tolerance.

Critical pathways in heart function: bis(2-chloroethoxy)methane-induced heart gene transcript change in F344 rats

Gene transcript changes after exposure to the heart toxin, bis(2-chloroethoxy)methane (CEM), were analyzed to elucidate mechanisms in cardiotoxicity and recovery. CEM was administered to 5-week-old male F344/N rats at 0, 200, 400, or 600 mg/kg by dermal exposure, 5 days per week, for a total of 12 doses by study day 16. Heart toxicity occurred after 2 days of dosing in all 3 regions of the heart (atrium, ventricle, interventricular septum) and was characterized by myofiber vacuolation, necrosis, mononuclear-cell infiltration, and atrial thrombosis. Ultrastructural analysis revealed that the primary site of damage was the mitochondrion. By day 5, even though dosing was continued, the toxic lesions in the heart began to resolve, and by study day 16, the heart appeared histologically normal. RNA was extracted from whole hearts after 2 or 5 days of CEM dosing. After a screen for transcript change by microarray analysis, dose-response trends for selected transcripts were analyzed by qRT-PCR. The selected transcripts code for proteins involved in energy production, control of calcium levels, and maintenance of heart function. The down-regulation of ATP subunit transcripts (Atp5j, ATP5k), which reside in the mitochondrial membranes, indicated a decrease in energy supply at day 2 and day 5. This was accompanied by down-regulation of transcripts involved in high-energy consumption processes such as membrane transport and ion channel transcripts (e.g., abc1a, kcnj12). The up-regulation of transcripts encoding for temperature regulation and calcium binding proteins (ucp1 and calb3) only at the 2 low exposure levels, suggest that these adaptive processes cannot occur in association with severe cardiotoxicity as seen in hearts at the high exposure level. Transcript expression changes occurred within 2 days of CEM exposure, and were dose-and time-dependent. The heart transcript changes suggest that CEM cardiotoxicity activates protective processes associated energy conservation and maintenance of heart function.

Conjugation of glutathione with the reactive metabolites of 1, 1-dichloroethylene in murine lung and liver

Exposure to 1,1-dichloroethylene (DCE) elicits lung and liver cytotoxicities that are manifested in bronchiolar Clara cell injury and centrilobular necrosis, respectively. The tissue damage is associated with cytochrome P450-dependent bioactivation of DCE to reactive intermediates, and is consistent with the finding that the target cells coincided with the sites of high concentrations of cytochrome P450 enzymes. The metabolites formed from DCE bind covalently to cellular macromolecules, and the extent of binding and cell damage are inversely related to the content of intracellular glutathione (GSH). Histochemical studies showed that staining for GSH in the lung is localized in the bronchiolar epithelial and alveolar septal cells, with relatively strong staining in the Clara cells. In the liver, staining is observed rather uniformly in hepatocytes distributed across the hepatic lobule. Depletion of GSH correlates with the Clara cell damage and centrilobular necrosis observed in the lung and liver, respectively. The primary metabolites of DCE formed in lung and liver microsomal incubations have been identified as DCE-epoxide, 2,2-dichloroacetaldehyde and 2-chloroacetyl chloride. All are electrophilic metabolites that form secondary reactions including conjugation with GSH. Results of our studies indicated that the DCE-epoxide is the major metabolite forming conjugates with GSH, and this reaction is likely responsible for the depletion of GSH observed in vivo. Our findings support the premise that, following depletion of intracellular GSH, metabolites of DCE including the DCE-epoxide bind to cellular proteins, a process which leads to cell damage and suggests that conjugation with the thiol nucleophile represents a-detoxification mechanism.

Nephrotoxicity mechanism of 1,1-dichloroethylene in mice

Male Swiss OF1 mice were administered orally with a single dose (200 mg/kg) of 1,1-dichloroethylene (DCE). Examination of cryostat kidney sections stained for alkaline phosphatase (APP) revealed damage to about 50% of the proximal tubules at 8 h following DCE administration. Pretreatment with the anionic transport inhibitor probenecid by i.p., (0.75 mmol/kg, 30 min prior to and 10 min and 5 h following DCE administration) and with the gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) inactivator acivicin by gavage and i.p. (50 mg/kg, 1 h and 30 min prior to DCE administration) failed to prevent DCE-induced renal toxicity. Pretreatment with the beta-lyase inactivator amino-oxyacetic acid (AOAA) by gavage (100 mg/kg, 30 min prior to and 10 min and 5 h following DCE administration), and with the renal cysteine conjugate S-oxidase inhibitor methimazole by i.p. (40 mg/kg, 30 min prior to DCE administration) reduced the number of damaged tubules by approximately 50 and 60%, respectively in mice treated with DCE. The results suggest that the DCE undergoes biotransformation by NADPH-cytochrome P450 to several reactive species which conjugate with glutathione (GSH). After arriving in the kidneys, the resulting conjugates reach the renal cells by a mechanism which depends on neither GGT, nor on an anionic transport system which is sensitive to probenecid. Once in the cells, the presumed GSH conjugates and/or their derivatives undergo secondary modification by beta-lyase and cysteine conjugate S-oxidase to reactive metabolite(s).

Reaction of glutathione with the electrophilic metabolites of 1,1-dichloroethylene

1,1-Dichloroethylene (DCE) requires cytochrome P450-catalyzed bioactivation to electrophilic metabolites (1,1-dichloroethylene oxide, 2-chloroacetyl chloride and 2,2-dichloroacetaldehyde) to exert its cytotoxic effects. In this investigation, we examined the reactions of these metabolites with glutathione by spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques. In view of the extreme reactivity of 2-chloroacetyl chloride, primary reactions are likely to include alkylation of cytochrome P450, conjugation with GSH to give S-(2-chloroacetyl)-glutathione, or hydrolysis to give 2-chloroacetic acid. Our results showed conjugation of GSH with 1,1-dichloroethylene oxide, through formation of the mono- and di-glutathione adducts, 2-S-glutathionyl acetate and 2-(S-glutathionyl) acetyl glutathione, respectively. The observed equilibrium constant between the hydrate of 2,2-dichloroacetaldehyde and S-(2,2-dichloro-1-hydroxy)ethylglutathione was estimated from 1H-NMR experiments to be 14 +/- 2 M-1. Thus, 2,2-dichloroacetaldehyde is unlikely to make a significant contribution to GSH depletion as GSH concentrations above normal physiological levels would be necessary to form significant amounts of S-(2,2-dichloro-1-hydroxy)ethylglutathione. We also compared the formation of the glutathione conjugates in rat and mouse liver microsomes using 14C-DCE. The results demonstrated a species difference; the total metabolite production was 6-fold higher in microsomes from mice, compared with samples from rat. Production of DCE metabolites in hepatic microsomes from acetone-pretreated mice was 3-fold higher than those from untreated mice suggesting a role for P450 2E1 in DCE bioactivation. These results indicate that the epoxide is the major metabolite of DCE that is responsible for GSH depletion, suggesting that it may be involved in the hepatotoxicity evoked by DCE. Furthermore, this metabolite is formed to a greater extent in mouse than in rat liver microsomes and this difference may underlie the enhanced susceptibility found in the former species.

Toxicity of monochloroacetic acid administered by gavage to F344 rats and B6C3F1 mice for up to 13 weeks

Groups of 20 rats and 20 mice of each sex were administered monochloroacetic acid (MCAA) once daily, 5 days per week, in water by gavage for up to 13 weeks. Doses used were 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, or 150 mg/kg for rats and 0, 25, 50, 100, 150, or 200 mg/kg for mice. Compound-related deaths occurred at the four highest dose levels in rats and at the highest dose level in mice. Mean body weights of treated groups of rats and mice surviving until the end of the study were similar to those of the controls. A dose-related increase in blood urea nitrogen, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, as well as a dose-related increase in the relative liver and kidney weights was observed in rats but not in mice. A dose-related increase in the incidence and severity of cardiomyopathy occurred in rats. This lesion may be related to the inhibition of heart mitochondrial aconitase activity. No compound-related lesions were observed in mice. The results of this study indicate that F344 rats are more sensitive than B6C3F1 mice; sexes within the species were equally sensitive. The no-observable-effect level was estimated as 30 mg MCAA/kg body weight for rats and 100 mg MCAA/kg body weight for mice.

Literature-derived absorption coefficients for 39 chemicals via oral and inhalation routes of exposure

Absorption refers to the amount of a chemical or substance that is able to cross biological membranes and be taken up by the blood for subsequent distribution to target tissues. The term absorption coefficient, as used here, is a numerical descriptor characterizing that fractional uptake by the blood and represents an approximation of the biological "dose" ultimately responsible for toxicity or other effects following exposure or chemical administration. Regulatory agencies utilize absorption coefficients in deriving acceptable daily intake values and health advisory indices, as well as in quantifying radiological risk. However, absorption coefficients do not exist for many chemicals due to a paucity of appropriate toxicological data. As a result, regulatory policy must often provide default options that assume, for example, 100% absorption by all routes to permit evaluation of "data-gap" chemicals. This paper attempts to improve the situation by providing a discrete source of route-specific absorption coefficients that are based on experimental data reported in the open literature. The estimates presented here are the result of an extensive investigation of three data bases (TOXLINE, HSDB, and CIS), many agency documents, and nearly 200 articles from 30 scientific journals. Acknowledging that absorption efficiency varies with dietary status, age, and several other situation-specific factors, the estimates presented here are intended to reflect absorption by the average adult human.

Cytogenetic studies on 1,1-dichloroethylene and its two isomers in mammalian cells in vitro and in vivo

Chromosomal aberration and sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) tests in vitro on 1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE), its two isomers, cis- and trans-1,2-DCE, and two possible metabolites of 1,1-DCE, chloroacetyl chloride and chloroacetic acid, were carried out using a Chinese hamster cell line, CHL. 1,1-DCE induced chromosomal aberrations in the presence of S9 mix prepared from the rat liver, but not in the absence of S9 mix. SCEs were also slightly induced by 1,1-DCE only in the presence of S9 mix. On the other hand, two isomers and two metabolites of 1,1-DCE induced neither chromosomal aberrations nor SCEs with and without S9 mix. 1,1-DCE, however, was negative even at a sublethal dose in the micronucleus test using mouse bone marrow, fetal liver and blood.

Studies on the distribution and covalent binding of 1,1-dichloroethylene in the mouse. Effect of various pretreatments on covalent binding in vivo

The distribution and covalent binding of a single dose of [1,2-14C] 1,1-dichloroethylene (DCE; 125 mg/kg, i.p.) was studied in male C57Bl/6N mice. Total radioactivity was distributed in whole homogenates of all tissues studied, with peak levels occurring within 6 hr. Covalent binding of radioactive material peaked at 6-12 hr in all tissues, and highest levels were found in kidney, liver, and lung with smaller amounts in skeletal muscle, heart, spleen, and gut. Covalent binding in kidney, liver, and lung fell to 50% of peak levels in about 4 days. Between 12 hr and 4 days after DCE administration, 70-100% of total radioactivity present in homogenates of kidney, liver, and lung was covalently bound. The three tissues showed a similar spread in total radioactivity in subcellular fractions 24 hr after exposure to DCE; most of the radioactivity was covalently bound (60-100%) and distributed fairly uniformly with a slight tendency to concentrate in the mitochondrial fraction. Phenobarbital (PB) and 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) pretreatments increased the covalent binding in the liver and lung but had no effect in the kidney. Piperonyl butoxide and SKF-525A decreased the covalent binding in liver and lung, but the latter increased binding in the kidney while the former decreased it. Diethylmaleate administration increased the covalent binding (2- to 3-fold) in all three tissues as well as increasing lethal toxicity. These results are consistent with the view that DCE is metabolized to some reactive intermediate(s) which may be detoxified by conjugation with glutathione.

Toxicology of trans-1,2-dichloroethylene in the mouse

Trans-1,2-dichloroethylene (DCE) was administered to male and female CD-1 mice in order to evaluate its effects on standard toxicological parameters. Following an acute LD50 determination (2122 mg/kg in males and 2391 mg/kg in females) and a 14-day range-finding study, a 90-day drinking water study was performed using levels of DCE calculated to deliver approximately 1/100, 1/10, and 1/5 the LD50. Various toxicological assessments were made, including body and organ weights, hematology, serum chemistries, and hepatic microsomal activities. Few alterations were observed in either sex following 90 days of exposure. The most noteworthy changes occurred in the males exposed to the highest level of DCE, where there was a significant decrease in glutathione levels, and in the females exposed to all three DCE levels, where there was a significant decrease in aniline hydroxylase activity. These data served as background for the immunotoxicological evaluation presented in the following manuscript.

Protective action of diethyldithiocarbamate and carbon disulfide against acute toxicities induced by 1,1-dichloroethylene in mice

In male mice of ddY strain, a single dose of 1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE, 0.1 ml/kg, ip) produced severe renal damage at 24 hr, as evidenced by elevations in plasma urea nitrogen concentration and kidney calcium content and by massive renal tubular necrosis, while hepatic damage was less severe. A precipitous decrease in body temperature started as early as 30 min after administration of 1,1-DCE and lasted for 24 hr. Glutathione concentrations decreased in the liver and kidney, with a rebound increase seen in the former but not in the latter tissue. In carbon tetrachloride-poisoned mice, the renal toxicity of 1,1-DCE was markedly potentiated. Pretreatment with either diethyldithiocarbamate (DTC) or carbon disulfide (CS2) blocked all of these 1,1-DCE-induced toxic manifestations in normal and carbon tetrachloride-poisoned mice. Both agents, however, did not prevent the hypothermia induced by monochloroacetic acid or chloroacetyl chloride, proposed active metabolites of 1,1-DCE. Since DTC and CS2 inhibited hepatic and renal microsomal drug metabolizing enzyme activities (Masuda and Nakayama, 1982, 1983), it is probable that the protective action of DTC and CS2 against renal and hepatic injury induced by 1,1-DCE may be due to an inhibition of the metabolic activation of 1,1-DCE to its proposed epoxide in each organ. The action of DTC given po may be mediated by CS2 produced in the stomach. The hypothermia induced by 1,1-DCE may not result from a direct action of 1,1-DCE per se, but by its metabolites.

Toxicokinetics of chloroethanol in the rat after single oral administration

The excretion and tissue distribution of 14C-labelled chloroethanol were studied in rats following single oral administration of 5 and 50 mg/kg body weight. At both dose levels, the radioactivity was rapidly eliminated, mainly in the urine. On the first day after application of 5 mg/kg body weight, 77.2% of the dose were found in the urine, 1.7% in the faeces, and 1.0% as carbon dioxide in the expired air. Only 2.8% were excreted by these routes during the following 3 days. The residual radioactivity remaining in the tissues after 4 days was almost equally distributed and amounted to about 0.4% of the dose in the liver and 3% in the whole organism. At the higher dose level, excretion rates and tissue concentrations were similar. Examination of the urine by anion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex revealed two metabolites which were identified by GC/MS analysis as thiodiacetic acid and thionyldiacetic acid. These metabolites represented almost the whole urinary radioactivity. They were excreted in approximately equal amounts at the low dose whereas the thiodiacetic acid predominated with about 70% of the urinary radioactivity at the high dose. Unchanged chloroethanol, chloroacetic acid, S-carboxymethylcysteine and sulphonyldiacetic acid were not found in the urine.

Molecular properties of the chlorinated ethylenes and their epoxide metabolites

This paper has presented the initial results of a computational study of the chlorinated ethylenes and their epoxides. Particular attention was devoted to those properties which may be related to the reactivities, and specifically carcinogenicities, of these molecules. Detailed calculations of their optimum structures have been carried out, and stabilities, dipole moments, charge distributions, and epoxide C-O bond strengths were determined and have been discussed. For the epoxides, most of this information, including the structural data, has not previously been available. It is hoped that this will help to bring about a better understanding of the biological activities of the chlorinated ethylenes, and of the manner in which these activities are related to the numbers and locations of the chlorine substituents. Particularly promising in this respect are the qualitative assessments of the epoxide C-O bond strengths presented above. More quantitative measures of this key property are currently being computed.

Consideration of the evidence for mechanisms of 1,1,2-trichloroethylene metabolism, including new identification of its dichloroacetic acid and trichloroacetic acid metabolites in mice

Data derived from studies with vinylidene chloride (1,1-dichloroethylene)and 1,1,2-trichloroethylene suggest that similar mutagenic and tumorogenic properties in mice may be attributable to rearrangement of the 2 haloalkene-derived haloepoxides, respectively, into chloroacetyl chloride and dichloroacetyl chloride. On the other hand, the relative harmlessness of 1,1,2-trichloroethylene in rats and man is due to alternative rearrangement of 1,1,2-trichloroethylene oxide into chloral and the further products of its metabolism. The identification in mice of the new 1,1,2-trichloroethylene metabolite, dichloroacetic acid (in addition to trichloroacetic acid) strongly supports this supposition. The small proportion of dichloroacetic acid in relation to the large proportion of trichloroacetic acid in the urine of the treated mice is consistent with a spill-over model that is now tentatively proposed for 1,1,2-trichloroethylene metabolism in these animals.

Tissue-mediated mutagenicity of vinylidene chloride in Salmonella typhimurium TA1535

Vinylidene chloride is weakly positive in the Salmonella typhimurium TA1535 test, mediated by kidney and liver post-mitochondrial supernatant (S-9 mix) from normal mice, but strongly positive with the S-9 mix from the induced animals. In the case of mediation by rat tissue, only liver S-9 mix from induced animals affords a significant positive response. These findings agree with the greater availability in treated mice than in rats of reactive vinylidene chloride metabolites, 1,1-dichloroethylene oxide and chloroacetyl chloride [5], and with the vinylidene carcinogeneicity found in mice but not in rats [9]. Exploratory tissue-mediated testing of vinylidene chloride involving liver S-9 mix from marmosets and man suggests a trend in the generation of alkylating metabolites and their reactions with bacterial DNA for these primates which resembles rats more than mice.