Untersuchungen zum Wirkungsmechanismus von S-(Dichlorvinyl)-L-Cystein

Peroxidative damage and nephrotoxicity of dichlorovinylcysteine in mice

Male NMRI mice were treated i.p. with dichlorovinylcysteine (DCVC) in a dosage of 2.5-500 mg/kg-1 and renal cortical slices from naive mice were incubated with 0-125 micrograms/ml-1 DCVC. The effects of DCVC on blood urea nitrogen (BUN), reduced glutathione (GSH) content, malondialdehyde (MDA) production, p-aminohippuric acid (PAH)- and tetraethylammonium (TEA)-accumulation and glucose synthesis (gluconeogenesis) were measured. DCVC depleted GSH in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Depletion of renal cortical GSH by DCVC was more pronounced in the kidney cortex than in the liver. DCVC caused a dose-dependent increase of ethane exhalation and of MDA production in the renal cortex. When animals were kept in a closed system, decrease in oxygen concentration increased the peroxidative damage. No increase of MDA concentration was observed in the liver. Treatment of mice with DCVC induced a dose-dependent increase in BUN and decreased the accumulation of PAH and TEA in renal cortical slices. Pretreatment of mice with aminooxyacetic acid (AOAA) and (+) cyanidanol-3 (CY) caused a significant reduction in DCVC-induced lipid peroxidation and nephrotoxicity. In vitro incubation of renal cortical slices of naive mice with DCVC resulted in a concentration-dependent increase in MDA and a concentration-dependent decrease in the accumulations of PAH, TEA and of gluconeogenesis. In conclusion, the interaction of DCVC and/or its metabolites with membrane lipids may be responsible for lipid peroxidation and nephrotoxicity. The formation of lipid peroxidation products was greater under hypoxic conditions and appeared to be related to the DCVC-induced nephrotoxicity. This data suggests lipid peroxidation as a possible mechanism of DCVC-induced nephrotoxicity.

Influence of aging on chemically induced hepatotoxicity: role of age-related changes in metabolism

The effects on hepatotoxicity of age-associated changes in drug metabolism are not always straightforward. In the case of allyl alcohol hepatotoxicity in male rats, there is a good relationship between increased metabolic activation by liver alcohol dehydrogenase and enhanced hepatotoxicity in old age. With regard to two other hepatotoxicants, some tentative conclusions about the role of metabolism can be drawn, but they must be tempered with caution due to gaps in the available information. Acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity is reduced in old age, and decreased formation of the toxic intermediate may be the reason. There is a prominent effect of aging on acetaminophen conjugation, a shift from sulfation to glucuronidation, but this change does not affect total clearance. The situation with carbon tetrachloride is difficult to interpret because the final outcome is unaltered hepatotoxicity in old age. Nevertheless, the available data suggest that an age-associated decrease in activation of carbon tetrachloride is counterbalanced by a loss in resistance to lipid peroxidation. These conclusions are summarized in Table 5. Again, it must be emphasized that all of these age-dependent changes in toxicity could be related to effects on other systems that are not necessarily involved in the metabolism of hepatotoxicants. Future research is needed to identify pathways of metabolic activation and detoxification in which age-dependent changes occur that result in significant changes in hepatotoxicity. The entire sequence of events from changes at the molecular level to their sequelae at the level of the cell, tissue and intact animal should be investigated, and the results should be confirmed in more than one mammalian model of aging. The aim would be to identify basic mechanisms that result in increased hazard for the aged liver from exposure to toxic compounds.

Biosynthesis and biotransformation of glutathione S-conjugates to toxic metabolites

The material presented in this review deals with the hypothesis that the nephrotoxicity of certain halogenated alkanes and alkenes is associated with hepatic biosynthesis of glutathione S-conjugates, which are further metabolized to the corresponding cysteine S-conjugates. Some glutathione or cysteine S-conjugates may be direct-acting nephrotoxins, but most cysteine S-conjugates require bioactivation by renal, pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzymes, such as cysteine conjugate beta-lyase (beta-lyase). The biosynthesis of glutathione S-conjugates is catalyzed by both the cytosolic and the microsomal glutathione S-transferases, although the latter enzyme is a better catalyst for the reaction of haloalkenes with glutathione. When glutathione S-conjugate formation yields sulfur mustards, as occurs with vicinal-dihaloethanes, the S-conjugates are direct-acting toxins. In contrast, the S-conjugates formed from fluoro- and chloroalkenes yield S-alkyl- or S-vinyl glutathione conjugates, respectively, which are metabolized to the corresponding cysteine S-conjugates by gamma-glutamyltransferase and dipeptidases; inhibition of these enzymes blocks the toxicity of the glutathione S-conjugates. The cysteine S-conjugates must be metabolized by beta-lyase for the expression of toxicity; the beta-lyase inhibitor aminooxyacetic acid blocks the toxicity of cysteine S-conjugates, and the corresponding alpha-methyl cysteine S-conjugates, which cannot be metabolized by beta-lyase, are not toxic. Moreover, probenecid, an inhibitor of renal anion transport system, blocks the toxicity of cysteine S-conjugates, which cannot be metabolized by beta-lyase, are not toxic. Moreover, probenecid, an inhibitor of renal anion transport system, blocks the toxicity of cysteine S-conjugates. Homocysteine S-conjugates are also potent cyto- and nephrotoxins. The high renal content of gamma-glutamyltransferase and the renal anion transport system are probably determinants of kidney tissue as a target site. Biochemical studies indicate that renal mitochondrial dysfunction is produced by the cysteine S-conjugates. Finally, some of the glutathione and cysteine conjugates are mutagenic in the Ames test, and reactive intermediates formed by the action of beta-lyase may contribute to the nephrocarcinogenicity of certain chloroalkenes.