Influence of dithiocarbamates on the metabolism and toxicity of N-nitrosodimethylamine in rats

Protective Effect of a Lactobacillus salivarius Strain of Human Origin

The protective effect of a Lactobacillus salivariusstrain from human faeces (HA8) was evaluated against the cytotoxicity of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR), N-nitrosodibutylamine (NDBA) and N-nitrosopiperidine (NPIP) by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. L. salivariusHA8 strain showed a moderate protective effect against NPYR and weak against NDBA and NPIP. No protective effect against cytotoxicity of NDMA was observed at the bacterial population used. To test the effect of L. salivariusHA8 on cytokine production (interleukin-1 ± (IL-1 ±), interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-≥)), the human macrophage cell line (THP-1) was cultured in the presence and absence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). L. salivariusHA8 induced IL-1 ±, IL-8 and TNF-≥ releases when cells were stimulating with and without LPS.

Effects of N-acetylcysteine in an esophageal carcinogenesis model in rats treated with diethylnitrosamine and diethyldithiocarbamate

Due to the increasing role of esophageal tumors in human cancer pathology, there is need for animal models evaluating the mechanisms of esophageal carcinogenesis and investigating protective factors toward this disease. Several N-nitrosamines have been shown to induce esophageal tumors in rats. We designed a study in BD(6) rats treated with N-diethylnitrosamine (DEN) according to a simple protocol involving weekly i.p. injections of this carcinogen for 8 consecutive weeks. This treatment resulted in a high incidence and multiplicity of liver tumors and in occurrence of preneoplastic lesions and papillomas in the esophagus. Intraperitoneal injections of diethyldithiocarbamate (DEDTC), 4 hr after each DEN injection, i.e., during the period of DEN metabolization, improved survival of rats and did not affect the liver tumor yield but doubled the incidence of esophageal tumors and enhanced 4.9x their multiplicity. Moreover, 15% of rats developed esophageal squamocellular carcinomas. The oral administration of the thiol N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), a precursor and analogue of reduced glutathione, to rats treated with the DEN/DEDTC combination did not change the liver tumor yield but attenuated esophageal carcinogenesis by producing a significant shift of preneoplastic lesions to milder forms as well as a significant decrease of tumor multiplicity. Therefore, the DEN/DEDTC protocol appears to provide an interesting 2-organ model of N-nitrosamine-induced carcinogenesis in rats, in which NAC is moderately effective as an inhibitor. The mechanisms underlying enhancement of DEN-induced esophageal carcinogenesis by DEDTC and the protective effects of NAC are discussed.

Induction of apoptosis by thiuramdisulfides, the reactive metabolites of dithiocarbamates, through coordinative modulation of NFkappaB, c-fos/c-jun, and p53 proteins

Prolinedithiocarbamate (PDTC) and diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC) are cancer chemopreventive agents and can be biotransformed to prolinethiuramdisulfide (PTDS) and tetraethylthiuramdisulfide (disulfiram; DTDS), respectively. We found that the reactive metabolites PTDS and DTDS induced apoptosis after G1/S arrest. Phosphorylation of cyclin E, inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase 2 activity, and degradation of cyclin E were found in human hepatoma Hep G2 cells during apoptosis. Moreover, PTDS and DTDS decreased the level of bcl-2 but increased the level of p53. In contrast, PDTC, DDTC, and ammonium dithiocarbamate (ADTC) did not induce apoptosis; rather they led to the induction of p53 and p21 followed by G1/S arrest. PDTC, DDTC, and ADTC also arrested cells in G1 phase. We then examined the effects of PTDS and DTDS on the signal transduction mechanisms leading to apoptosis. Although the transcription factors NFkappaB and AP-1 cooperatively decreased their DNA-binding activities to kappaB and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-responsive elements, respectively, and p53 increased DNA-binding activity in the early stage but decreased it in the latter stage after treatment with PTDS, when the human Hep G2 cells were undergoing apoptosis. In summary, our results indicated that (i) PTDS and DTDS induced apoptosis and G1/S arrest mediated by p53, whereas PDTC, DDTC, and ADTC induced p53-dependent p21 expression leading to G1/S arrest; (ii) PDTC, DDTC, and ADTC induced p21/KIP1/CIP1 expression in a p53-dependent pathway leading to G1/S arrest; and (iii) NFkappaB, AP-1, and bcl-2 were downregulated during PTDS- and DTDS-induced apoptosis. These results suggested that PTDS and DTDS induced p53-dependent apoptosis, whereas PDTC, DDTC, and ADTC induced G1/S arrest. Apoptosis is regulated by the modulation of intracellular effectors such as NFkappaB, AP-1, and bcl-2 and activation of p53 in early stages.

Comparative studies on the pharmacokinetics of hydrophilic prolinedithiocarbamate, sarcosinedithiocarbamate and the less hydrophilic diethyldithiocarbamate

The pharmacokinetics of the antitoxic and anticarcinogenic compounds diethyldithiocarbamate, prolinedithiocarbamate and sarcosinedithiocarbamate were compared in rats. The bioavailability, the distribution in the organism, the oxidation to thiuramdisulfides, the cleavage to CS2 and the excretion in urine and bile were investigated. The results showed different behaviour of the three compounds. The more toxic diethyldithiocarbamate had a short in vivo half-life, was oxidized to tetraethylthiuramdisulfide in blood, and was metabolized to high yields of CS2 in 24 h. In contrast, prolinedithiocarbamate was more stable in vivo, was found predominantly in the urinary tract and was excreted in urine. The differences could not be explained by the presence of the carboxy group in the latter dithiocarbamate, since sarcosinedithiocarbamate, which also contains a carboxy group, behaved like diethyldithiocarbamate.

Modulation of diethylnitrosamine carcinogenesis in rat liver and oesophagus

A series of 16 experiments, using a total of 2,000 BD6 rats, was designed in order to assess the ability of 8 individual agents or their combinations to modulate the liver and oesophageal carcinogenesis induced by multiple doses of diethylnitrosamine (DEN). Of the antioxidants tested, sodium selenite, ascorbic acid, and butylated hydroxytoluene generally exhibited protective effects on both types of tumors. In contrast, retinoic acid behaved as a promoter of DEN hepatocarcinogenesis, but this effect could be eliminated by its combination with either selenite or butylated hydroxytoluene. Caffeine and theophylline, when individually assayed, were devoid of significant protective effects, and the latter methylxanthine stimulated oesophageal tumorigenesis when administered after exposure to the carcinogen. Caffeine tended to decrease the multiplicity of liver tumors and potentiated the inhibitory effect of selenite in the liver. Irrespective of combination with caffeine, treatment with phenobarbital before each DEN injection tended to reduce the multiplicity of both liver and oesophageal tumors. On the other hand, the metabolic inhibitor diethyldithiocarbamate, given after each DEN injection, dramatically enhanced the incidence and multiplicity of oesophageal tumors. Thus, on the whole, modulation of DEN carcinogenesis varied depending on test agents, their combinations, dosages, treatment schedules, and target organ.

Proline dithiocarbamate inhibits N-nitrosodiethylamine induced liver carcinogenesis

A study was conducted to determine the toxicity of different dithiocarbamates and of disulfiram. In an experiment showing the cytotoxicity against murine spleen lymphocytes, proline dithiocarbamate (PDTC) and thioproline dithiocarbamate showed the lowest toxicity. Therefore one of them was selected and different doses of the hydrophilic PDTC were checked for their ability to affect the development of liver and oesophagus tumours induced in BD-6 rats by N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA). Rats were injected i.p. with 80 mg/kg NDEA once weekly for 10 weeks. Administration of PDTC, 1 h before and 24 h after the carcinogen, markedly decreased the number of rats developing NDEA-induced hepatocellular carcinoma and liver haemangioendothelioma. A 59%-77% reduction in the incidence of liver tumours was found in the different groups when the carcinogen was administered in combination with the inhibitor. For least 40 weeks after the start of the experiment PDTC protected the liver from NDEA carcinogenesis and did not shift the tumour development to any other organ. PDTC did not significantly affect the weight gain of the experimental animals. We conclude that parenteral administration of PDTC seems to represent a promising approach in chemoprevention of liver carcinogenesis.

Effect of ten thiocompounds on rat liver DNA damage induced by a small dose of N-nitrosodimethylamine

The use in a chemoprevention study of high doses of the genotoxic agent might result in erroneous information because of possible nonlinearity of pharmacokinetic processes and toxicity-induced derangement of physiological defense mechanisms. According to these premises ten thiocompounds, potentially active as inhibitors of metabolic activation and/or scavengers, were examined for their capability of reducing the frequency of liver DNA lesions induced by a very small dose of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). This was accomplished by means of a viscometric technique previously found suitable to detect a minimal amount of DNA fragmentation. Rats were injected i.p. or i.v. with 1 mmol/kg of thiocompound, 0.2 mg/kg NDMA given by gavage 1 h afterwards, and killed for DNA damage assessment 14 h later. Statistically significant changes of viscometric parameters, which are considered indicative of a protective activity, were produced by disulfiram (DSF), and to a lower extent by diethyldithiocarbamate (DEDTC). Any modification of NDMA-induced DNA damage was absent in rats pretreated with glutathione reduced form (GSH) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Allyl disulfide (ADS), L-cysteine (CYS), N-acetylcysteine (NAC), alpha-mercaptopropionylglycine (MPG), ethylxanthic acid (PEX), and 2-mercaptoethane sulfonic acid (MESNA) increased in various degree the frequency of DNA-strand breaks. In subsequent experiments the protective activity of DSF was found to be dose-related, dependent on the time of administration, and greater by oral route. Taken as a whole, these results suggest that several putative anticarcinogens might be ineffective against the DNA-damage produced by the low doses encountered in human exposure.

Hepatocyte cytotoxicity induced by various hepatotoxins mediated by cytochrome P-450IIE1: protection with diethyldithiocarbamate administration

The objective of this study was to determine whether the thiol drug, diethyldithiocarbamate (DEDC) and its two metabolites, disulfiram (DS) and carbon disulfide (CS2) could be used as inhibitors of cytochrome P-450IIE1 to protect hepatocytes from cytotoxic xenobiotics. (1) Hepatocytes isolated from rats following pyrazole administration to induce cytochrome P-450IIE1 were much more susceptible to carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) than hepatocytes from untreated rats. Microsomes isolated from P-450IIE1-induced liver were also much more effective at catalysing a NADPH-dependent metabolism of CCl4 and DMN. The activities of aniline hydroxylase and p-nitroanisole-O-demethylase increased whereas ethoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase activity was much less induced and pentoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase activity was decreased. The P-450IIE1 antibody markedly inhibited the NADPH-dependent metabolism of these compounds indicating that IIE1 is a major catalyst of the microsomal metabolism of CCl4 and DMN. (2) Hepatocytes isolated from rats treated with DEDC or its metabolites, DS and CS2, on the other hand, were resistant to CCl4 and DMN. Microsomes isolated from the liver of animals treated with DEDC or DS or CS2 were also much less effective at catalysing the NADPH-dependent metabolism of the above compounds. DEDC markedly decreased the activities of aniline hydroxylase, p-nitroanisole-O-demethylase and pentoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase but had no effect on ethoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase activity. (3) Hepatocytes isolated from pyrazole-treated rats were also more susceptible to bromobenzene (BB) and naphthalene-induced cytotoxicity than hepatocytes from untreated rats. Furthermore, DEDC or CS2 administration beforehand significantly protected hepatocytes against both xenobiotics. (4) By contrast, hepatocytes isolated from P-450IIE1 induced rats were not more susceptible to lactonitrile or cyclophosphamide. Instead, cyclophosphamide was activated by phenobarbital-induced P-450 isozymes whereas lactonitrile was activated by alcohol dehydrogenase. Hepatocytes isolated from DEDC-treated rats were also resistant to cyclophosphamide but not lactonitrile. (5) The above results suggest that P-450IIE1 catalyses the cytotoxic activation of CCl4, DMN, BB and naphthalene but not of lactonitrile or cyclophosphamide. Furthermore, the administration of DEDC and its metabolites, disulfiram or CS2, inactivates P-450IIE1 so that the hepatocytes become resistant to these hepatotoxins.

Effects of disulfiram on hepatic P450IIE1, other microsomal enzymes, and hepatotoxicity in rats

Disulfiram, widely used in avoidance therapy for alcohol abuse, has been shown to have protective effects against chemically induced toxicity and carcinogenesis. The purpose of this work was to elucidate the biochemical mechanisms of this protective action by examining its effects on cytochrome P450IIE1 and other related microsomal enzyme activities. When a dose of disulfiram was given intragastrically to rats, a very rapid decrease of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) demethylase activity, possibly due to the inactivation of P450IIE1, was seen. The loss of P450IIE1 protein from the microsomal membrane was observed at 18 hr after receiving disulfiram, but not within the first 5 hr after the treatment. P450IIB1, on the other hand, was induced markedly between 15 and 72 hr after the disulfiram treatment. The treatment, however, caused only moderate changes in some other P450 isozymes. Carbon disulfide, a putative metabolite of disulfiram, produced similar effects on P450IIE1, but with shorter duration. Carbon disulfide, however, did not induce P450IIB1. Diethyldithiocarbamate, a reductive product of disulfiram, was an inhibitor of P450IIE1 activity in vitro, and upon preincubation with microsomes, it produced an NADPH-dependent inactivation of NDMA demethylase activity. The results suggest that this or other metabolites of disulfiram are inhibitors of P450IIE1 and are responsible for the inactivation of P450IIE1 in vivo. Hepatotoxicity of NDMA or CCI4 in rats was blocked by pretreatment with disulfiram. The present work demonstrates that P450IIE1 was inhibited and inactivated by disulfiram, and this mechanism can account for many of the reported inhibitory actions of disulfiram against chemically induced toxicity and carcinogenesis.

Sacrosine- and prolinedithiocarbamate pretreatment increases the therapeutic efficacy of doxorubicin, methotrexate, teniposide, mitoxantrone or cyclohexylchloroethylnitrosourea in leukemia L1210

The influence of different doses of the hydrophilic sarcosine- or prolinedithiocarbamate on the chemotherapeutic efficacy of doxorubicin, teniposide, methotrexate, mitoxantrone or cyclohexylchlorethylnitrosourea was evaluated in female B6D2F1 mice bearing leukemia L1210, implanted intraperitoneally. The simultaneous administration of these dithiocarbamates and the drugs used induced no increase of the therapeutic efficacy of the combinations compared to the corresponding dose of the drug and simultaneously applied saline. The results indicate that the subcutaneous pretreatment with sarcosine- or prolinedithiocarbamate increased the therapeutic efficacy of the drugs used compared to the corresponding monotherapy, in which saline was applied in the same interval as the dithiocarbamate and the antineoplastic agents. Sarcosine- or prolinedithiocarbamate applied alone did not influence leukemia L1210. The increase of the efficacy of the drugs used by sequential combination with sarcosine- or prolinedithiocarbamate seems to be influenced predominantly by diminishing the toxicity as well as by modulating the chemotherapeutic action.