Oxidation of carbon tetrachloride, bromotrichloromethane, and carbon tetrabromide by rat liver microsomes to electrophilic halogens

Theoretical insights into the reductive metabolism of CCl4 by cytochrome P450 enzymes and the CCl4-dependent suicidal inactivation of P450

The one-electron reduction product, ˙CCl₃, irreversibly inactivates P450 via covalently binding to the meso-carbon, whereas the two successive one-electron reductions product, :CCl₂, reversibly inhibits P450 by coordinating to iron.

Oxidative and non-oxidative metabolism of 4-iodoanisole by rat liver microsomes

1. The oxidative metabolism of 4-iodoanisole (1) by liver microsomes from beta-naphthoflavone-treated rats yields 4-iodophenol (2) 2-iodo-5-methoxyphenol (3), 2-methoxy-5-iodophenol (4), 4-methoxyphenol (5), and 3-methoxyphenol (6) in relative yields of 5:2:4:1:1 respectively. 2. [3 5-2H2]-1 was converted to the same five metabolites in the same proportions; formation of 2, 4 and 5 involved no loss of deuterium, but formation of 3 and 6 involved respectively 55 and 28% loss of one deuterium. 3. When metabolism of 1 was carried out in buffers containing D2O or H2(18)O, no incorporation of these isotopes into 2-6 could be detected. Nor was it possible to detect formation of iodinating intermediates derived from 1 by trapping with 2,6-dimethylphenol. 4. The P450-catalysed hydroxylative de-iodination of 1-5 and 6 is suggested to involve C-O bond formation via attack of the ferry moiety on the aromatic ring followed by reductive cleavage of the C-iodine bond, with electrons coming from P450 reductase.

Reductive dehalogenation of the trichloromethyl group of nitrapyrin by the ammonia-oxidizing bacterium Nitrosomonas europaea

Suspensions of Nitrosomonas europaea catalyzed the reductive dehalogenation of the commercial nitrification inhibitor nitrapyrin (2-chloro-6-trichloromethylpyridine). The product of the reaction was identified as 2-chloro-6-dichloromethylpyridine by its mass fragmentation and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. A small amount of 2-chloro-6-dichloromethylpyridine accumulated during the conversion of nitrapyrin to 6-chloropicolinic acid in an aerated solution in the presence of ammonia (T. Vannelli and A.B. Hooper, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 58:2321-2325, 1992). Nearly stoichiometric conversion of nitrapyrin to 2-chloro-6-dichloromethylpyridine occurred at very low oxygen concentrations and in the presence of hydrazine as a source of electrons. Under these conditions the turnover rate was 0.37 nmol of nitrapyrin per min per mg of protein. Two specific inhibitors of ammonia oxidation, acetylene and allylthiourea, inhibited the rate of the dehalogenation reaction by 80 and 84%, respectively. In the presence of D2O, all 2-chloro-6-dichloromethylpyridine produced in the reaction was deuterated at the methyl position. In an oxygenated solution and in the presence of ammonia or hydrazine, cells did not catalyze the oxidation of exogenously added 2-chloro-6-dichloromethylpyridine to 6-chloropicolinic acid. Thus, 2-chloro-6-dichloromethylpyridine is apparently not an intermediate in the aerobic production of 6-chloropicolinic acid from nitrapyrin.

Mechanism of C8 alkylation of guanine residues by activated arylamines: evidence for initial adduct formation at the N7 position

Aromatic amines are bioactivated to electrophilic compounds that react with DNA, predominantly at the C8 position of guanine bases. This site is weakly nucleophilic and it has been proposed that the C8 adduct is the final product after initial N7-adduct formation. To consider this possibility, we reacted several C8-substituted guanine derivatives with N-acetoxy-2-aminofluorene, prepared in situ from 2-acetylsalicylic acid and N-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene. With C8,N9-dimethylguanine, an adduct was isolated in good yield that was consistent, by NMR and mass spectral characterization, with a structure involving carcinogen substitution at the N7 position of guanine and linked through the 2-aminofluorenyl nitrogen--N-(C8,N9- dimethylguanin-N7-yl)-2-aminofluorene. This adduct could be easily reduced with NaBH4, consistent with the proposed N7-adduct structure. The same reaction was also carried out with C8-methylguanosine and C8-methyldeoxyguanosine and similar adducts were isolated. In contrast, C8-bromoguanosine reacted with N-acetoxy-2-aminofluorene to yield the C8-substituted arylamine adduct N-(guanosin-C8-yl)-2-aminofluorene directly. These products are uniquely consistent with a scheme in which C8-adduct formation is preceded by an initial electrophilic substitution on the N7 atom, which is postulated to be a general reaction for activated arylamines and heterocyclic amines.

Interaction of hypoxia and carbon tetrachloride toxicity in hepatocyte monolayers

The toxicity of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in monolayer cultures of primary hepatocytes was investigated at oxygen concentrations that prevail in the liver under conditions that range from normoxia to hypoxia: 0.5, 1, 2, and 20% O2. CCl4 was administered in the vapor phase at concentrations that produce aqueous concentrations at 37 degrees C of 0.4, 2.0, and 4.0 mM. Damage was assayed by leakage of aspartate transaminase and the inclusion of Trypan Blue immediately after the 2-hr incubation and after an additional 6-hr incubation in 20% O2. Only in the case of 0.5% O2 and 4 mM CCl4 were the monolayers damaged (18%) immediately after the 2-hr exposure; all other exposed cells were undamaged at that time point and the dose response of cell death as a function of CCl4 and oxygen concentration was not evident until the 6-hr time point. The monolayers exposed to 4 mM CCl4 and 1, 2, or 20% O2 exhibited little immediate damage but were all 100% dead 6 hr later. The monolayers exposed to 2 mM CCl4 and 0.5, 1, 2, or 20% O2 were 53, 48, 40, and 22 +/- 2% dead after 6 hr, respectively. These results suggest that effects of CCl4 exposure, for example alterations in the function or synthesis of essential proteins, require several hours to affect cell viability.

The role of CCl4 biotransformation in the activation of hepatocyte phospholipase C in vivo and in vitro

Rats treated with a single 0.5 ml/kg dose (ip) of CCl4 exhibited a threefold increase in liver microsomal phospholipase C (PLC) activity that was enhanced by phenobarbital and diminished by metyrapone pretreatment, respectively. Hepatocytes and hepatocellular fractions exposed to 0.5 mM CCl4 in vitro also exhibited a rapid rise in PLC activity that was reduced by metyrapone. Metyrapone also reduced the CCl4-related increase in the PLC-mediated reductions in cellular phosphatidylcholine content. The influence of CCl4 biotransformation on the activation of liver cell PLC was assessed in vitro. Covalent binding of 14CCl4 metabolites to isolated hepatocyte proteins and lipids was linear through 20 min of incubation and then quickly plateaued. The association of CCl4 metabolites with cellular phospholipids was inhibited by metyrapone and preceded the CCl4-dependent rise in PLC activity. CCl4-mediated increases in PLC activity were rapid and preceded reductions in cell viability. The translocation of cytosolic PLC to membranes such as the endoplasmic reticulum may explain the rapid, metabolite-dependent activation of PLC.PLC activation by haloalkanes was proportional to dose and incubation time in the order of CBrCl3 greater than CCl4 greater than CHCl3 greater than CFCl3 which corresponds to the observed hepatotoxic potential of these agents in vivo and in vitro. Haloalkane-dependent increases in PLC activity were inhibited by metyrapone. These results suggest that chemical metabolites activate PLC in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, the activation of a PLC that degrades membrane phospholipids may represent an important step in the pathogenic scheme of chemical-mediated liver cell necrosis.

Metabolism of [14C]carbon tetrachloride to exhaled, excreted and bound metabolites. Dose-response, time-course and pharmacokinetics

Fasted male rats were given six doses of 14CCl4 ranging from non-hepatotoxic (0.1 mmole/kg) to severely hepatotoxic (26 mmoles/kg). Time-course and pharmacokinetics of CCl4, 14CO2 and CHCl3 elimination by exhalation were monitored by measuring amounts recovered in breath during discrete 15-min intervals for 8-12 hr. Amounts of 14C-labeled metabolite recovered bound to liver macromolecules at 24 hr and excreted in urine or feces for 24 hr were also determined. Comparison pharmacokinetic studies were done with 14CHCl3 and Na(2)14CO3. After all doses of 14CCl4, the major metabolite was CO2, twenty to thirty times less metabolite was recovered bound to liver macromolecules, and intermediate amounts of metabolite were excreted in urine and feces. CHCl3 was the least abundant metabolite at low CCl4 doses, but the second most abundant at high doses. Stronger associations were found between the magnitude of liver injury at 24 hr (quantitated as serum glutamate-pyruvate transaminase activity) and the extent or rate of CCl4 metabolism by pathways leading to CO2 and CHCl3 than by pathways leading to 14C-metabolites bound in liver or excreted in urine. Time-course and pharmacokinetic data indicated that a major pathway of CCl4 metabolism leading to CO2 became impaired within 2 hr after administration of hepatotoxic doses of CCl4.

Identification of dichloromethyl carbene as a metabolite of carbon tetrachloride

Although indirect evidence has suggested that liver microsomal cytochrome P-450 can reductively dehalogenate several compounds to carbene metabolites, there has been no direct proof for the formation of these reactive species. We report in this paper that carbenes can be chemically trapped and identified as metabolites. For example, 1,1-dichloro-2,2,3,3-tetramethylcyclopropane was identified as a metabolite by gas chromatography mass spectrometry when carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) was incubated anaerobically with rat liver microsomes, NADPH and 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene. The reaction required NADPH and was inhibited by carbon monoxide. These findings show that cytochrome P-450 in rat liver microsomes can reductively metabolize CCl4 to dichloromethyl carbene (:CCl2) which can be trapped with 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene to form 1,1-dichloro-2,2,3,3-tetramethylcyclopropane. A similar approach may be used for the identification of carbene metabolites of other compounds.

Reductive oxygenation of carbon tetrachloride: trichloromethylperoxyl radical as a possible intermediate in the conversion of carbon tetrachloride to electrophilic chlorine

Under aerobic conditions, rat liver microsomes convert carbon tetrachloride to an electrophilic form of chlorine that is trapped with 2,6-dimethylphenol to form 4-chloro-2,6-dimethylphenol. The mechanism of cytochrome P-450-catalyzed electrophilic chlorine formation from carbon tetrachloride was examined with structure-activity studies of electrophilic halogen formation and chemical and in vitro microsomal studies. 4-Chloro-2,6-dimethylphenol is not formed as a consequence of a reaction of 2,6-dimethylphenoxyl radical with carbon tetrachloride or carbon tetrachloride-induced lipid peroxyl radical formation. Only tetrahalomethanes were found to yield electrophilic halogens. The chemical oxidants hydrogen peroxide, cumene hydropheroxide, sodium periodate, and iodobenzene diacetate did not support electrophilic halogen formation from carbon tetrachloride, carbon tetrabromide, or hexachloroethane in microsomal studies. The addition of superoxide dismutase, catalase, sodium azide, or glutathione to microsomal incubations did not affect the rate of electrophilic chlorine formation, whereas Paraquat completely inhibited the reaction. The radical spin trap phenyl t-butyl nitrone (14 mM) completely inhibited electrophilic chlorine formation. The rate of electrophilic chlorine formation was highest at 2-5% atmospheric oxygen, whereas anaerobiosis completely inhibited electrophilic chlorine formation, and high oxygen tension impaired electrophilic chlorine formation. These results preclude direct oxidation of carbon tetrachloride or a reaction of superoxide anion radical with carbon tetrachloride as the initial step in electrophilic chlorine formation and suggest that the likely initial step is reductive dehalogenation of carbon tetrachloride to trichloromethyl radical which then traps oxygen to form trichloromethylperoxyl radical. Subsequent reaction of trichloromethyl peroxyl radical leads to electrophilic chlorine. These findings may have important implications concerning carbon tetrachloride-induced lipid peroxidation and carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity.

Bioactivation of halogenated hydrocarbons

Halogenated hydrocarbons are an economically and toxicologically important group of chemicals. These compounds may produce toxic effects after metabolism to stable, but toxic, products or to reactive, electrophilic intermediates. The biotransformation reaction may involve oxidative or reductive reactions or may proceed with no change in oxidation state. The bioactivation reactions are catalyzed most frequently by cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenases, but glutathione S-transferases may also catalyze bioactivation reactions. Detailed reaction mechanism studies are useful in understanding the biotransformation and bioactivation pathways of halogenated hydrocarbons.