Stereochemical aspects in the 4-vinylcyclohexene biotransformation with rat liver microsomes and purified cytochrome P450s: diepoxide formation and hydrolysis

Effects of an Anti-Fertility Product on Reproductive Structures of Common Vole Males and Residues of Compounds

Some rodent species cause significant damage to agriculture and forestry, and some can transmit pathogens to humans and livestock. The common vole (Microtus arvalis) is widespread in Europe, and its population outbreaks have resulted in massive crop loss. Bait-based fertility control could contribute to rodent pest management. Bait containing 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) and triptolide (TP), registered as ContraPest®, was delivered to male common voles for 14 or 28 consecutive days. The effects on reproductive structures and residues in the liver and testes were assessed. There was no effect on testis weight, sperm viability, sperm motility and oxidative stress in sperm cells. Results regarding the mitochondrial membrane potential of sperm, DNA fragmentation and progressively motile sperm cells were inconclusive. However, there was an increase in morphological sperm defects in voles treated for 14/28 days and fewer normal sperm cells in voles treated for 28 days. There were no TP residues in the testes, few and low TP residues and no VCD residues in liver tissues, making considerable secondary exposure to non-target species unlikely. Treatments with VCD + TP seemed to have minor effects on the reproductive organs of males. Further studies should evaluate the effect of VCD + TP on females and on the reproductive success of common voles and other pest rodent species.

Transformation pathways of MeO-PBDEs catalyzed by active center of P450 enzymes: a DFT investigation employing 6-MeO-BDE-47 as a case

Recent in vivo and in vitro experiments indicated that methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (MeO-PBDEs) can be biotransformed into hydroxylated PBDEs (HO-PBDEs) that are more toxic than PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs. Nevertheless, the enzymatic transformation mechanism is not clear. We hypothesized that cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) play a key role in the transformation and employed the density functional theory calculations to unveil the mechanism. The transformation of a model compound, 6-MeO-BDE-47, catalyzed by the active center of CYPs (Compound I), was computed. For the first time, our results show that the energy barriers for the addition of Compound I to the C atoms on the phenyl of 6-MeO-BDE-47 are much higher than that for hydroxylation of the methoxyl, indicating that O-demethylation is a dominating metabolic pathway. This is in line with experimental observations performed by others. The pathways for the transformation of 6-MeO-BDE-47 catalyzed by Compound I were clarified. A C-H bond of the methoxyl is activated by Compound I, followed by radical rebound to form carbinol intermediates, then the carbinols decompose to form 6-HO-BDE-47 with the assistance of water molecules. The computational method can be potentially employed to develop models that predict biotransformation of xenobiotics catalyzed by CYPs.