During ferrihemoglobin formation, 4-(dimethylamino)phenol (DMAP), a potent cyanide antidote, forms a quinoid compound that is prone to sequential oxidation/addition reactions. In human red cells and hemoglobin solutions fortified with glutathione, a transient adduct has been isolated and identified as 4-(dimethylamino)-2-(glutathion-S-yl)phenol (2-GS-DMAP). This compound still formed ferrihemoglobin but differed from parent DMAP in that the reaction rate was roughly proportional to the oxygen concentration and exhibited a lag phase, pointing to a reactive autoxidation product. The compound was isolated and tentatively identified as an intramolecular cyclization product of 2-GS-DMAP. Formation of this product includes three reaction steps: (1) formation of a quinoid intermediate, (2) addition of the alpha-amino nitrogen atom of the glutamate residue to the aromatic ring, and (3) autoxidation of the cyclization product to give a highly reactive o-quinone imine. The isolated compound existed in two isomeric states (1H-NMR) which upon reduction could be separated by HPLC. The isolated reduced isomers mutually converted into each other. A model compound which was synthesized to mimic the most important structural features, 4-(dimethylamino)-6-[S-(2'-hydroxyethyl)-thio]-N-(2"-phenylethyl)-1,2- quinone imine, had a very similar visible spectum and exhibited an even higher ferrihemoglobin activity than the cyclization product. A similar phenomenon of intramolecular cyclization of a thioether of DMAP had been observed earlier: DMAP covalently bound to the SH groups of the beta-chains in hemoglobin formed a cross-link with the C-terminal histidine residue in the presence of oxygen but not in its absence.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Abstract. A juvenile dwarf rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) with clinical signs of dyspnea and suspected ascites was submitted for necropsy. The main macroscopic findings were a watery red pleural effusion and some whitish striated foci in the lungs. In addition, there were multifocal scars in the cortex of the kidneys. The histologic examination of the lungs showed a severe granulomatous pneumonia with detection of acid-fast bacilli, in the kidneys, an interstitial chronic lymphoplasmacellular nephritis with interstitial fibrosis, and in the brain, a multifocal granulomatous and partly necrotizing encephalitis with detection of spores, suggestive of encephalitozoonosis. In the lungs, Mycobacterium genavense was verified by polymerase chain reaction and 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an M. genavense infection in a rabbit, with the lungs being the only affected organ. Therefore, an aerogen infection seems to be the most contemplable way of infection.

4-(Dimethylamino)phenol (DMAP) is a potent cyanide antidote which forms many equivalents of ferrihemoglobin in vivo and in vitro. During this process formation of phenoxyl radicals was observed which are reduced by ferrohemoglobin, thereby sustaining a catalytic cycle of ferrihemoglobin formation, or which disproportionate to give the quinone imine of DMAP. In the presence of thiols, e.g., glutathione (GSH), formation of 4-(dimethylamino)-2-(glutathion-S-yl)phenol (2-GS-DMAP), 4-(dimethylamino)-2,6-bis(glutathion-S-yl)phenol (2,6-bis-GS-DMAP), and 4-(dimethylamino)-2,3,6-tris(glutathion-S-yl)phenol (2,3,6-tris-GS-DMAP) was observed. While the trisubstituted glutathione conjugate is a stable end product, 2-GS-DMAP and 2,6-bis-GS-DMAP were still reactive and produced ferrihemoglobin. It is concluded that formation of polysubstituted DMAP thioethers is a result of sequential oxidation/addition reactions with quinoid intermediates. Formation of glutathione disulfide (GSSG) was minimal during the interaction of oxidized DMAP or 2-GS-DMAP with glutathione but became significant when oxidized 2,6-bis-GS-DMAP reacted with GSH. Thus it is conceivable that the bulky glutathione substituents in 2,6-bis-GS-DMAP render the addition of a third GSH molecule to the quinone imine derivative more difficult, and other reactions may get a chance. The reaction mechanism of GSSG formation has not been fully resolved, but a radical pathway mechanism involving thiyl radicals is proposed. Oxidation and addition reactions were also observed in the absence of oxygen when ferrihemoglobin served as oxidant. In the presence of oxygen, however, GSSG formation was increased, Partly due to hydrogen peroxide formation, partly due to an additional trapping reaction of the glutathione disulfide radical anion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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Ferrihemoglobin formation by 4-(dimethylamino)phenol (DMAP), a potent cyanide antidote, is influenced by GSH under formation of various glutathione S-conjugates. Two of these were shown to be still reactive and able to produce ferrihemoglobin. The mechanism of ferrihemoglobin formation is fundamentally different from that found with the parent compound. First of all, induction periods of ferrihemoglobin formation were observed when 4-(dimethylamino)-2-(glutathion-S-yl)-phenol (2-GS-DMAP) and 4-(dimethylamino)-2,6-bis(glutathion-S-yl)phenol (2,6-bis-GS-DMAP) reacted with oxyhemoglobin at 100% and 20% oxygen, but not at 2% oxygen. This behavior points to thioether activation by autoxidation. Autoxidation proceeded in an autocatalytic manner, and the process was markedly modified by reducing agents, e.g., ferrihemoglobin and GSH, and by nucleophiles like GSH. Superoxide dismutase extended the lag phase of autoxidation and ferrihemoglobin formation. Catalase diminished markedly ferrihemoglobin formation, particularly at low oxygen pressure. The extent of this effect was much higher than expected if H2O2 had formed ferrihemoglobin directly. Conceivably, H2O2 might react with the thioethers or their oxidation products to give hitherto unidentified compounds of high catalytic activity in ferrihemoglobin formation. The results indicate that ferrihemoglobin formation by reactive glutathione conjugates of DMAP is essentially not a co-oxidation process as found with the parent DMAP and other aminophenols, but is mainly caused by an autocatalytic autoxidation process with formation of various reactive intermediates including superoxide radical anions and hydrogen peroxide. It appears that glutathione conjugation of autoxidizable aromatics does not necessarily lead to inactive phase II metabolites but opens new avenues of toxication reactions that may be a broader toxicological significance.