The effect of long-term feeding of Aroclor 1254 to female rhesus monkeys on their polychlorinated biphenyl tissue levels

The result of feeding Aroclor 1254 to female Rhesus monkeys at doses of 0, 5, 20, 40 and 80 micrograms/kg body weight/day for a period of 37 months was measured in terms of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) levels in blood, adipose tissue, and feces. PCB concentrations in whole blood increased more rapidly during the first 10 months of the study than in the remaining 27 months for all dose groups. On a blood-lipid basis, however, another rapid increase in PCB levels was observed after 27 months of dosing, which could not be explained on the basis of an overall decrease in blood-lipid levels. Concentrations in adipose tissue and adipose fat increased continuously during the 37 months of dosing. These observations were reflected in the ratio profiles of PCB levels in blood/PCB levels in adipose tissue, which remained relatively static between the 2nd and 27th month of continuous feeding. Expressing the data in terms of relative concentrations (concentration/dose) suggests that bio-accumulation or retention of PCBs may be dose-dependent, particularly for adipose tissue, with the higher relative concentrations of the lowest dose group significantly (p less than 0.001) different from all other dose groups. Similarly, the limited feces data available suggests a dose-dependent PCB absorption. The distribution of PCB peaks in the gas chromatographic elution pattern of all analyzed substrates showed considerable deviation from that of administered Aroclor 1254. Only minor changes in the percent distribution pattern were observed between dose groups.

Brain phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy in acute bacterial meningitis

The metabolic basis of the encephalopathy associated with acute bacterial meningitis is unknown. The presence of cerebrospinal fluid lactic acidosis and hypoglycorrhachia suggests that intracellular acidosis or cellular energy depletion may play a role. Phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy allows for the noninvasive determination of intracellular pH and relative amounts of phosphate-containing metabolites in humans. In seven normal volunteers, the intracellular pH of a mixed volume of gray and white matter was 7.00 +/- 0.04 (mean +/- SD). The apparent relative intensities of resonances from adenosine triphosphate, phosphocreatine, phosphodiesters and phosphomonoesters, and inorganic phosphate were measured. An encephalopathic patient with pneumococcal meningitis who had severe cerebrospinal fluid lactic acidosis was studied. Brain intracellular pH and relative phosphate metabolite concentrations were normal. Intracellular acidosis and bioenergetic compromise are therefore not causes of encephalopathy in this disease. This also demonstrates that the human brain can maintain tight control of intracellular pH even in the presence of marked extracellular metabolic acidosis.

Immunotoxicity studies of PCB (Aroclor 1254) in the adult rhesus (Macaca mulatta) monkey--preliminary report

The effects of PCB (Aroclor 1254) on the immune system of adult female rhesus monkeys were investigated in a chronic study wherein five groups of monkeys (16/group) were administered (orally) PCB at levels of 0.0, 5.0, 20.0, 40.0 or 80.0 micrograms/kg body wt daily. Tests for immunotoxicity were initiated at 23 months of exposure to PCB, at which time the monkeys had achieved an apparent pharmacokinetic steady state based on the PCB concentration in fat and/or blood. A statistically significant (P less than 0.05) dose response reduction in antibody levels (IgG and IgM) to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) was observed following i.v. administration of three immunizing doses of SRBC at weekly intervals. A statistically significant decrease in the percent TH and an increase in the percent and absolute TS lymphocyte levels was found in the 80 micrograms/kg body wt group compared to the control. The TH/TS ratio was also significantly lower in the 80 micrograms/kg body wt group compared to the control. Other parameters investigated including percent of B-lymphocytes and total T-lymphocytes, total serum immunoglobulin levels (IgG, IgM and IgA), other serum proteins, glucocorticosteroid levels and lymphocyte transformation results following stimulation with the mitogens PHA-P and Con A were not affected significantly by PCB treatment. Additional immunologic parameters are currently being investigated to further elucidate the mechanism by which PCB induces immunotoxicity.

Ca2+-ATPase deficiency in a patient with an exertional muscle pain syndrome

31P Magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies were carried out in vivo on skeletal muscle of a patient with verapamil-responsive, chronic, progressive post-exertional muscle pain. A sister suffered from a similar complaint. The results showed that the muscle: (1) decreased its high energy phosphate content more rapidly than normal during exercise, indicating either increased utilisation or decreased production of ATP; (2) acidified more rapidly than normal during exercise suggesting an increased glycolytic rate; (3) continued in some studies to acidify markedly during the first minute after exercise, indicating that glycolysis remained active into the recovery period; (4) had phosphocreatine and ADP recovery rates consistent with normal rates of oxidative phosphorylation. On the basis of these results, it was proposed that the patient suffers from a defect in Ca2+ handling in the muscle. Subsequently, direct measurement of Ca2+-ATPase activity in the sarcoplasmic reticulum fraction from a muscle biopsy sample showed that the activity of this enzyme was reduced by about 90%.

An unusual metabolic myopathy: a malate-aspartate shuttle defect

Studies on a 27-year-old man with a 3-year history of exercise-induced muscle pain, passage of red urine and elevated serum creatine kinase are described. Histological examination of a biopsy from quadriceps revealed non-specific myopathic changes with occasional clusters of subsarcolemmal mitochondria. The phosphorylase stain was normal. Phosphorous nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy studies of gastrocnemius and flexor digitorum superficialis muscles showed no abnormalities at rest. During aerobic exercise there was an abnormally rapid decrease in phosphocreatine concentration but the pH remained within the normal range. There was a build-up of phosphomonoester (probably glucose 6-phosphate), usually indicative of a block in glycolysis. However, a primary defect in the glycolytic pathway seemed unlikely because muscle acidified normally during ischaemic exercise. Recovery from exercise was unusual in that phosphocreatine resynthesis and inorganic phosphate disappearance followed similar prolonged time courses (in control subjects the rate of inorganic phosphate disappearance was about twice as fast as the rate of phosphocreatine resynthesis). The transport of inorganic phosphate into the mitochondria appeared to be delayed. These slow recovery data suggested that oxidative metabolism was impaired. However, with all substrates tested, isolated muscle mitochondria had rates of oxygen uptake that were similar to control values, thereby ruling out a primary defect in mitochondrial respiration. A system involving several mitochondrial transport systems, the malate-aspartate shuttle, was measured. The activity in the patient's isolated mitochondria was less than 20% of the activity present in samples from control subjects. This patient is the only one so far reported with a defect involving the malate-aspartate shuttle system.

Metabolic changes in cerebral gliomas within hours of treatment with intra-arterial BCNU demonstrated by phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy

A 40-year-old female with a recurrent mixed astrocytoma/oligodendroglioma was treated with intra-arterial BCNU at six week intervals. Phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy was performed before, and on two occasions after her third treatment. Before treatment, phosphodiesters were 25% less than normal and intracellular pH was 7.14 (normal 6.97 +/- 0.02). Eight hours following treatment phosphocreatine and phosphodiesters were reduced by approximately 40% and pHi increased to 7.24. Thirty-two hours after treatment, phosphocreatine and phosphodiesters had reversed their decline, but pHi had increased further to 7.35. MRI and x-ray CT scans did not show any change during this period. This study demonstrates that chemical changes can be observed in a glioma by magnetic resonance spectroscopy shortly after chemotherapy in a clinical setting and before changes are observable by imaging modalities. This approach evidently offers a possible means of monitoring the acute metabolic response of tumours to chemotherapy or other forms of treatment by a non-invasive repeatable quantitative method.

MR image-guided P-31 MR spectroscopy in the evaluation of brain tumor treatment

Magnetic resonance (MR) image-guided phosphorus-31 MR spectra have been obtained from in situ brain tumors. The volumes of interest used for spectroscopy were defined from hydrogen-1 MR images. Direct comparisons were possible between normal and abnormal tissue, since P-31 spectra from different parts of the brain could be measured in a single examination. P-31 MR spectra of the tumors often showed abnormally high concentrations of phosphomonoesters and low concentrations of phosphocreatines. The effects of pharmacotherapy and radiation therapy were studied in three patients; in each of these cases changes were observed in the P-31 spectra of the tumor. The correlation between MR imaging and P-31 MR spectroscopy was essential for the interpretations of these results.

The toxicity of orally administered deoxynivalenol (vomitoxin) in rats and mice

Two studies were conducted with weanling male rodents in an attempt to ascertain more precisely the toxic effects of deoxynivalenol (DON). In a feeding study of approximately 18-wk duration, groups of 90 Swiss-Webster derived mice and 50 Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a commercial chow (118 ppb DON), and groups of 80 mice and 50 rats were fed either an 'uncontaminated' diet (53 ppb DON) or a contaminated diet (6250 ppb DON), both based on wheat. A 5-wk gavage study was also performed, in which 24 litters of 5 Swiss-Webster-derived mice were divided among the following groups: an untreated control group, a solvent control group, and three treated groups receiving 0.75, 2.5 or 7.5 mg DON/kg body weight. While there were interim kills in the feeding study, most of the animals given 7.5 or 2.5 mg/kg in the gavage study died during the test period. Effects on body weight and haematological parameters in both studies indicate that DON elicited some degree of toxicity at all levels tested. The histopathological findings from the gavage study suggest that DON had effects on the immune system as well as being a gastro-intestinal irritant.

A short-term feeding study with deoxynivalenol (vomitoxin) using rats

Groups of 25 male and 25 female Sprague-Dawley rats were fed diets containing 0, 0.25, 0.5, or 1.0 mg of deoxynivalenol (DON)/kg body wt for approximately 9 weeks. Each animal's body weight and feed consumption were measured weekly. Upon termination of the study, each animal's body, heart, liver, spleen, thymus, and kidneys were weighted. A hematological assessment and a 16-parameter serum evaluation were conducted and 8 animals from each group were randomly selected to receive tritiated thymidine iv to assess mitotic activity in the esophagus, jejunum, and spleen. A statistically significant, dose-related decrease in body weight gain was observed for all treated females, but only the males dosed at 1.0 mg/kg were found to have a treatment-related weight gain suppression. The reduced body weight was attributed to a reduced feed consumption. Reductions that were observed in absolute organ weights, were not apparent after adjusting for body weight suppression. No dose-related hematological findings were found. Serum chemistry changes included increased concentrations of chloride and decreased concentrations of CO2 and albumin, but only in the females. No histopathological lesions were attributed to DON treatment, but significant decreases in thymidine labeling occurred in the spleens and jejunums from the males dosed at 1.0 mg/kg.

A pilot study in adult rhesus monkeys (M. mulatta) treated with Aroclor 1254 for two years

Aroclor 1254, at a dose level of 280 micrograms/kg body weight equivalent to 200 micrograms/kg/day, was given 5 days per week to rhesus monkeys over a 27 to 28 month period. Terminal clinical signs of varying severity included fingernail detachment, exuberant nail beds, weight loss, stomatitis and normocytic anemia. At necropsy the bone marrow was hypocellular with increased M:E ratio and cytoplasmic vacuoles in erythroid precursor cells. Histopathologic lesions included dilatation of the tarsal gland ducts, atrophy or absence of splenic and lymph node germinal centers, bone marrow depletion, gingival erosion and ulceration, moderate mucinous hypertrophic gastropathy with cystic dilatation of occasional gastric glands, hepatocellular enlargement and necrosis, hypertrophy of biliary duct epithelium, hyperplasia of biliary ducts, hypertrophy of the gall bladder epithelium, and an equivocal increase in the number of lysosomes in thyroid follicular epithelial cells. PCB tissue concentrations were lowest in brain and highest in blood. The results suggest that severe potentially fatal PCB toxicity can develop in rhesus monkeys following ingestion of Aroclor 1254 at 200 micrograms/kg/day for a period of 27 months or longer.

A mitochondrial encephalomyopathy. A combined 31P magnetic resonance and biochemical investigation

A 15-year-old girl presented with recurrent encephalopathic episodes, epilepsy, myopathy and chronic lactic acidosis. A muscle biopsy revealed the presence of ragged red fibres and mitochondria with paracrystalline inclusions. Biochemical studies on freshly isolated skeletal muscle mitochondria demonstrated a deficiency of NADH-CoQ reductase activity. Investigation of her gastrocnemius muscle at rest by phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance displayed a reduced phosphocreatine concentration with elevated levels of inorganic phosphate and ADP. Abnormalities were also apparent in her brain spectrum. It is therefore possible that the mitochondrial defect present in skeletal muscle is also being expressed in the brain.

Long-term toxicity of hexachlorobenzene in the rat and the effect of dietary vitamin A

The toxicological effects of analytical-grade hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were examined in two chronic studies. Study I was an in utero exposure carcinogenicity feeding experiment in which Sprague-Dawley rats, in groups of 40 males and 40 females except where noted, were fed from weaning on diets containing 0.0 (64 M/64 F), 0.32, 1.6, 8.0 or 40.0 (66 M/66 F) ppm HCB. After 3 months on test, the F0 rats were bred and 50 pups (F1) of each sex were randomly selected from every group. From weaning, when the F0 animals were killed, the F1 animals were fed their parents' diet for the rest of their life (130 wk). There were no treatment-related effects on growth, feed consumption, haematological parameters or survival in either generation. Increased heart and liver weights were found in the 8.0 and 40 ppm F0 males. HCB had no effect on fertility but pup viability was significantly reduced in the 40 ppm group. Histopathological changes in the F1 generation included significant linear trends in the incidence of parathyroid adenomas and phaeochromocytomas in both sexes, neoplastic liver nodules in females, centrilobular basophilic chromogenesis of the liver in both sexes, peliosis of the liver in females, peribiliary lymphocytosis of the liver in males and chronic nephrosis of the kidney in males. In Study II, the toxicological effects of HCB were examined as a consequence of varying the dietary levels of vitamin A. In this single generation lifetime (119 wk) feeding study, groups of 50 weanling Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly assigned to each of the following dietary groups: control, control + 40 ppm HCB, 1/10 the vitamin A content of the control diet, 1/10 vitamin A + 40 ppm HCB, 10 times the vitamin A content of the control diet and 10 times vitamin A + 40 ppm HCB. After 25 and 49 wk on test, five animals from each group were killed and subjected to haematological and histological examinations. All other aspects of evaluation were similar to those for the F1 generation in Study I. No consistent differences were observed in the haematological parameters and there were no significant differences in the incidence of pathological lesions between the test groups. The animals in the 1/10 vitamin A groups, with or without HCB, had significantly lower body weights and poorer survival than did their corresponding control (normal vitamin A) groups.

Investigation of human mitochondrial myopathies by phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Abnormal mitochondria are an increasingly recognized cause of neuromuscular disease. We have used phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy to monitor noninvasively the metabolism of high-energy phosphates and the intracellular pH of human skeletal muscle in vivo in 12 patients with mitochondrial myopathy. At rest, an abnormality could be demonstrated in 11 of 12 patients. Ten patients had evidence of a reduced muscle energy state with at least one of the following abnormalities: low phosphorylation potential, low phosphocreatine concentration, high adenosine diphosphate concentration, or high inorganic phosphate concentration. Two patients had abnormal resting muscle intracellular pH. In some patients phosphocreatine concentration decreased to low values during exercise despite limited work output. This was not accompanied by particularly severe intracellular acidosis. Evidence of impaired rephosphorylation of adenosine diphosphate to adenosine triphosphate during recovery from exercise was found in approximately half the patients. Phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy is useful in the noninvasive diagnosis of mitochondrial myopathies and in defining the pathophysiological basis of these disorders.

Effect of deoxynivalenol (vomitoxin) on the humoral immunity of mice

The effects of vomitoxin (deoxynivalenol; DON) on the immune system were studied in groups of weanling male Swiss Webster mice administered by gavage 0.75, 2.5, and 7.5 mg of vomitoxin per kg body weight. Untreated controls and solvent controls (propylene glycol, ethanol, and distilled water in a ratio of 4:1:5) were also included in this study. Serum antibody (IgM) levels to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) were significantly reduced in the treatment groups compared to the control groups. Plaque-forming cell (PFC) numbers were also lower in the treated groups compared to the control groups. Furthermore, vomitoxin at a dose of 0.75 mg/kg resulted in a significant increase in the albumin, albumin/globulin ratio and a decrease in the alpha-2 globulin fraction compared to the control groups. Administration of 7.5 mg/kg of vomitoxin resulted in deaths, due to toxicity, in all animals of this group within 3 weeks. These preliminary findings are indicative of a potential effect of vomitoxin on the immune system which could have serious implications to man.

Toxicology of saccharin

Saccharin, like most of the artificial sweeteners, was discovered quite by accident. The controversy regarding its use as a food additive is reflected by the number of chronic/carcinogenic studies conducted to assess its safety. Two chronic studies were conducted prior to the ban of cyclamates in 1969, at which time 10 additional single-generation studies were initiated using the mouse, rat, and hamster. None of these studies resulted in overt regulatory action. However, subsequent to completion of three two-generation chronic rat feeding studies, saccharin was banned as a food additive in Canada, but a moratorium was placed on its proposed ban in the United States. These events gave rise to a great deal of scientific research into the possible mechanism(s) by which saccharin elicited bladder tumors in rats, and efforts to find epidemiological evidence that saccharin caused cancer in man. At the present time neither effort has produced unequivocal results; however, it seems certain that this latest saccharin controversy may result in changes to the regulations dealing with food additives.

Metabolic recovery after exercise and the assessment of mitochondrial function in vivo in human skeletal muscle by means of 31P NMR

It has been suggested that the rate of phosphocreatine resynthesis after exercise is an index of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism in intact muscle. To investigate this hypothesis, the time courses of metabolite recovery following mild and more severe dynamic exercise of human forearm muscle were compared by means of 31P NMR. Severe exercise resulted in greater net hydrolysis of phosphocreatine and greater intracellular acidosis than light exercise. The rate of phosphocreatine resynthesis was significantly slower during recovery from the more severe exercise. To explain this it was noted that, as a consequence of the high activity of creatine kinase in the sarcoplasm, the [phosphocreatine] at any time is a function of the intracellular pH. Calculations demonstrate that the difference between rates of phosphocreatine recovery after the two exercise protocols was primarily determined by the rates of recovery of the intracellular pH to normal rest values. It is concluded that the calculated rate of recovery of the cytosolic free [ADP] to its pre-exercise concentration may provide a more specific measure of mitochondrial oxidative activity.

Vomitoxin (4-deoxynivalenol): effects on reproduction of mice and rats

Weanling male and female mice (F0) were fed daily diets containing 4-deoxynivalenol (DON) at concentrations that resulted in a dose of 0 or 2.0 mg/kg body wt in Experiment I and 0, 0.375, 0.75, or 1.5 mg/kg body wt in Experiment II. The test diets were continuously fed to the F0 parents and their progeny for the entire duration of these two experiments, which were similar in design. After 30 days of dietary feeding, the mice were allowed to mate within experimental groups for a maximum of three 5-day trials. Females found to have mated successfully were allowed to litter normally. The F1a progeny from 10 dams of each control and 1.5-mg DON/kg groups were cross-fostered at birth, whereas all of the remaining F1a progeny were reared by their natural dams. The progeny were examined until 21 days of age and discarded. The F0 mice were rebred. The females bred to produce the F1b litters were killed on Day 19 of gestation and their fetuses were examined for gross, visceral, and skeletal malformations. Reductions were observed in feed and water intakes and body weight of F0 male and female mice, the number of live pups and postnatal survivors, postnatal body weight of F1a progeny, number of live fetuses, and mean fetal weight of F1b fetuses. No adverse effects on fertility of F0 male and female mice and no major malformations in F1b were found. Cross-fostering offspring between control dams and 1.5-mg DON/kg-treated dams revealed that both postnatal survival and body weight were adversely affected by prenatal exposure as well as by a combined pre- and postnatal exposure. Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were fed diets containing DON so as to deliver daily doses of 0.25, 0.5, or 1.0 mg/kg body wt. After 6 weeks of feeding, the rats were bred within groups and the males were then discarded. The mated females, maintained on their respective diets for the entire period of pregnancy, were killed on the last day of pregnancy and fetuses evaluated for effects on prenatal development. Except for dilation of renal pelvis and urinary bladder, the significance of which remains undetermined, no other adverse effect was observed.

Excessive intracellular acidosis of skeletal muscle on exercise in a patient with a post-viral exhaustion/fatigue syndrome. A 31P nuclear magnetic resonance study

A patient with prolonged post-viral exhaustion and excessive fatigue was examined by 31P nuclear magnetic resonance. During exercise, muscles of the forearm demonstrated abnormally early intracellular acidosis for the exercise performed. This was out of proportion to the associated changes in high-energy phosphates. This may represent excessive lactic acid formation resulting from a disorder of metabolic regulation. The metabolic abnormality in this patient could not have been demonstrated by traditional diagnostic techniques.

Examination of the energetics of aging skeletal muscle using nuclear magnetic resonance

Human skeletal muscle has been studied in vivo by 31P nuclear magnetic resonance. Young adult subjects were compared with healthy elderly subjects aged 70-80 years. Intracellular pH and concentrations of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), phosphocreatine and inorganic phosphate were measured. At rest, no differences were found between the two age groups. Aerobic dynamic exercise resulted in a similar reduction of phosphocreatine in both groups while the ATP concentration did not change. The pH fall in exercise was not significantly different in the elderly and younger subjects. The time to resynthesize ATP in the recovery period as measured by the time to replete phosphocreatine was also not different in the two groups. The results suggest that the aging process does not affect the metabolic ability of human skeletal muscle to respond to exercise and that changes found in muscle of the elderly are not due to alterations in energy production.

Saccharin: a toxicological and historical perspective

Saccharin, first synthesized in 1879, eventually became popular as an inexpensive substitute for sugar, particularly as a non-caloric sweetner. The dispute concerning the safety of saccharin for human consumption is almost as old as saccharin itself. In this article, the history concerning the uses of saccharin and the accompanying controversy are reviewed. In addition, the spectrum of toxicological and epidemiological studies to which saccharin has been subjected are also examined. While the toxicological data indicate that saccharin is probably the agent solely responsible for the bladder tumors observed in second generation male rats, the epidemiological studies provide, at best, an equivocal relationship between the consumption of saccharin and bladder cancer. A benefit-risk evaluation for saccharin showed few, if any documentable benefits from the use of saccharin and much genuine uncertainty concerning the potential risks for ingestion by man. This element of genuine uncertainty as to the extent of human risk posed to man is the crux of saccharin's past and its foreseeable future.