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A possible role for metabolic activation of 2,2',5, 5'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (TCB) to quinonoid metabolites was investigated in vitro in rat liver microsomes and in vivo in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Incubation of TCB with phenobarbital-induced rat liver microsomes resulted in metabolism of TCB to 3-hydroxy-TCB (3-OH-TCB) and 3,4-dihydroxy-TCB (3,4-diOH-TCB), which were further oxidized to form a reactive intermediate that bound to liver proteins. The predominant species observed in the Raney nickel assay for cysteinyl adducts was identified as 3,4-diOH-TCB, consistent with an adduct having the structure 5-cysteinyl-3,6-dichloro-4-(2', 5'-dichlorophenyl)-1,2-benzoquinone. This adduct may arise via the Michael addition of the sulfhydryl group of cysteine to 3, 6-dichloro-4-(2',5'-dichlorophenyl)-1,2-benzoquinone (Cl(4)PhBQ). Metabolism of 3-OH-TCB by phenobarbital-induced microsomes in the presence of either NADPH or cumene hydroperoxide as a cofactor resulted in the formation of adducts. Dose-dependent formation of cysteinyl adducts was observed in liver cytosolic protein from rats treated with a single dose of TCB (0-200 mg/kg) by gavage. By regression analysis, the TCB adducts decayed with a half-life of 2. 03 +/- 0.131 days (mean +/- SE), which is approximately 2.5-fold shorter than the endogenous half-life for liver cytosolic protein in rat liver, suggesting adduct instability. Saturable formation of TCB adducts was observed in liver cytosolic protein of rats receiving multiple doses of TCB over 5 days. The levels of Cl(4)PhBQ-derived adducts were 2.1-fold greater than the estimated steady-state levels predicted by the single-dose treatment [97.7 +/- 13.2 vs 45.7 +/- 3. 73 (pmol/g)/(mg/kg of body weight)], suggesting induction of metabolism. A single cysteinyl adduct, inferred to be 5-cysteinyl-3, 6-dichloro-4-(2',5'-dichlorophenyl)-1,2-benzoquinone, was detected in brain cytosolic protein of rats treated with multiple doses of TCB with levels of 15.2 (pmol/g)/(mg/kg of body weight). Implied involvement of a reactive quinone in the liver and brain of TCB-treated rats supports the idea that quinonoid metabolites may be important contributors to PCB-derived oxidative damage to genomic DNA.

Five cysteinyl adducts (including one with multiple isomeric forms) of hemoglobin (Hb) and albumin (Alb) have been characterized in the blood of Sprague-Dawley rats following administration of pentachlorophenol (PCP). Three of these adducts were formed by multiple substitution reactions of tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone (Cl4-1,4-BQ) and its products, and two arose from reactions of tetrachloro-1,4-benzosemiquinone (Cl4-1,4-SQ) and tetrachloro-1,2-benzosemiquinone (Cl4-1,2-SQ). Adducts of tetrachloro-1,2-benzoquinone (Cl4-1,2-BQ) were not observed. Regarding adducts of Cl4-1,4-BQ and its products, specific structures were assigned to monosubstituted, disubstituted, and trisubstituted adducts of Hb and Alb following modification of rat blood with Cl4-1,4-BQ (0-45 microM) in vitro and after metabolism of PCP (0-40 mg/kg body weight) in Sprague-Dawley rats, in vivo. The formation of all adducts was linear over the ranges tested, with Alb adducts being more abundant than Hb adducts. The levels of the adducts measured were in the following order: monosubstituted > disubstituted > trisubstituted. The observation that Cl4-1,4-BQ can produce multisubstituted adducts with proteins suggests that protein-protein cross links may be formed, with inherent toxicological implications. Regarding adducts of the semiquinones (detected only in vivo), linear production of Hb and Alb adducts was observed with increasing dosage of PCP for adducts of both Cl4-1,4-SQ and Cl4-1,2-SQ. Higher levels of the semiquinone adducts were observed in Hb than in Alb, in contrast to the results with the quinone adducts. In a separate in vivo experiment (20 mg PCP/kg body weight), where animals were sacrificed at intervals up to 336 h postadministration, adducts were eliminated at rates which were comparable among the different adducts of a given protein.

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