ascorbic-acid and 2-bromophenol

1. English sole (Parophrys vetulus) were injected intraperitoneally with a single dose of 9.8 mmol bromobenzene/kg of fish or 1.9 mmol O-bromophenol/kg of fish, both known renal toxicants in mammals. 2. Kidney, liver, gill spleen, intestines, heart and blood samples were subsequently obtained up to 48 hr post-injection for determination of microscopic lesions, concentrations of selected tissue antioxidants (glutathione and ascorbic acid), and selected serum parameters. 3. Bromobenzene and O-bromophenol were both found to be hepatotoxic in English sole, as indicated by the presence of hepatocellular coagulation necrosis and fatty change in the liver, altered glutathione and ascorbic acid levels in liver tissue, elevated serum aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase activity and increased serum glucose and triglyceride levels. 4. No evidence of nephrotoxicity was found in English sole exposed to either toxicant. 5. It is concluded that bromobenzene and O-bromophenol cannot be used as model nephrotoxicants but can be used as hepatotoxicants in English sole.

Topics: Alkaline Phosphatase; Animals; Ascorbic Acid; Aspartate Aminotransferases; Blood Glucose; Bromobenzenes; Flatfishes; Glutathione; Kidney; Liver; Organ Specificity; Oxidation-Reduction; Phenols; Species Specificity; Triglycerides

Bromobenzene undergoes metabolic activation via 2,3- and 3,4-epoxidation catalyzed by the hepatic cytochrome P-450 mixed-function oxidase system. Its reactive metabolites, especially bromobenzene 3,4-oxide, presumably lead to severe centrolobular necrosis. A study of relative rate of binding of 14C-bromobenzene metabolites to hepatic microsomal protein indicated a significant difference in the rate of binding of the bromobenzene 3,4-oxide compared to its positional isomer, bromobenzene 2,3-oxide. However, the rate of bromobenzene metabolism indicated no significant difference in the formation of products o-bromophenol and p-bromophenol. A search for protective agents revealed that 6,7-dimethyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydropterine and ascorbyl palmitate were very effective in protecting against macromolecular adduct formation at a concentration of 1 mM-in fact, at least a twofold increase in protection compared to the known protective agents such as glutathione or cysteine. Furthermore, 6,7-dimethyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydropterine and ascorbyl palmitate inhibited the metabolism of bromobenzene over 90% at a concentration of 2.5 mM.

Topics: Animals; Ascorbic Acid; Biotransformation; Bromobenzenes; Enzyme Induction; Male; Microsomes, Liver; Mixed Function Oxygenases; Oxidation-Reduction; Phenols; Protein Binding; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains