Metabolism and toxicokinetics of 1,4-dioxane in humans after inhalational exposure at rest and under physical stress.

The present study investigated the toxicokinetics of 1,4-dioxane in humans exposed at rest and during physical stress. Eighteen volunteers were divided into three groups of six individuals each, who were exposed separately in three experiments to 20 ppm (73 mg/m(3)) 1,4-dioxane for 8 h. The first group was exposed at rest (Experiment 1), whereas the other groups performed exercises on a bicycle ergometer for 10 min every hour, corresponding to a physical exercise of 50 W (Experiment 2) and 75 W (Experiment 3), respectively. Blood samples were collected after 4 and 8 h, and all urine samples were collected over 24 h. The samples were analysed for 1,4-dioxane and its metabolite 2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)acetic acid (HEAA). The amount of urinary-eliminated HEAA increased during exposure and showed its maximum 9.8 ± 1.9 h after the beginning of exposure. The levels of 1,4-dioxane in blood and urine, however, barely rose above the limit of detection. Depending on the physical stress of the volunteers, the maximum elimination rate of HEAA in urine was significantly increased with 23.2 ± 7.7, 30.4 ± 7.2 and 41.8 ± 23.8 mg/h for Experiments 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Likewise, the cumulative HEAA excretion over 24 h increased with increasing physical stress; 53 ± 15 % of the theoretical inhaled 1,4-dioxane dose was excreted as HEAA in urine during the first 24 h. The average maximum level of HEAA ranged between 378 and 451 mg/g creatinine and increased with the applied physical stress. The half-life of HEAA was found to be 3.4 ± 0.5 h. Twenty-four hours after the beginning of the exposure, 31-51 mg HEAA/g creatinine were still detected in urine, indicating only a low accumulation of the metabolite during a working week. The study results revealed an increasing effect of the applied physical stress on the total eliminated amounts of HEAA as well as on the maximum HEAA levels at the end of exposure. For the estimation of biomonitoring equivalents to occupational exposure limits, this effect should be taken into account.

In vitro and in vivo pharmacokinetic characteristics of clazosentan, an intravenous endothelin receptor antagonist, in humans.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, the distribution, metabolism and excretion of the endothelin receptor antagonist clazosentan were investigated. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 4 healthy male subjects received an intravenous 3-h infusion at a rate of 0.2 mg/kg/h of 14C-labeled clazosentan and blood, urine and feces samples were collected for a period of 8 days. Experiments were performed to investigate the plasma protein binding, the binding to red blood cells and the inhibition potential of cytochrome P450 isoenzymes of clazosentan. RESULTS: Clazosentan was mainly excreted unchanged into feces whereas about 15% of the radioactive dose was recovered in urine. No metabolites representing more than 5% of total radioactivity were identified. No relevant inhibition of the human cytochrome P450 isoenzymes, 1A2, 2A6, 2B6, 2C9, 2C19, 2D6, 2E1 and 3A4, was observed in vitro at clazosentan concentrations largely exceeding those observed in clinical trials. In human blood, clazosentan was highly bound to plasma proteins and did hardly penetrate into red blood cells. CONCLUSION: The primary route of excretion of clazosentan was via the feces, mainly as unchanged drug.

Structural identification of p-dioxane-2-one as the major urinary metabolite of p-dioxane.

Analysis by gas chromatography (GC) of the volatile compounds present in the urine from rats administered dioxane, a hepatic carcinogen to this species, revealed a major metabolite. The appearance of the metabolite was pH-dependent, undetectable at high pH; reacidification of the urine sample brought about the reappearance of the metabolite. The amount excreted was dose-dependent and time-dependent, reaching a maximum between 20 and 28 h after dioxane administration. Diethylene glycol administered to rats gave rise to the same metabolite. When isolated and purified from lyophilized urine by preparative GC, the metabolite exhibited an intense carbonyl band at 1750 cm-1 in the infrared spectrum. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum showed two triplets and one singlet with equal intensity at delta 3.85, 4.48 and 4.37, respectively. GC-mass spectrometric studies indicated a parent peak at m/e 102. The metabolite was identified as p-dioxane-2-one. Synthetic reference compound exhibited identical IR, NMR, and GC-mass spectra as the metabolite. The tentative pathway and the biological significance of dioxane metabolism are discussed.

Rapid method for the simultaneous determination of 1,4-dioxan and its major metabolite, beta-hydroxyethoxyacetic acid, concentrations in plasma and urine.

1,4-Dioxan and its principle metabolite, beta-hydroxyethoxyacetic acid (HEAA), are determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) on a 3% OV-17 column using selected ion monitoring, following the methylation of HEAA directly in plasma or urine without extraction. The recoveries of dioxan from plasma and urine are 98 and 94%, respectively, and the recoveries of HEAA from plasma and urine are 86 and 94%, respectively. The detection limits of 1,4-dioxan in plasma and urine are 0.07 ppm, and the detection limits of HEAA in plasma and urine are 0.5 and 0.1 ppm, respectively. Separate simultaneous measurements of 1,4-dioxan and HEAA methyl ester concentrations in urine and plasma are obtained after the methylation via GC-MS without additional preparation of the samples.