Toxic effects of orally ingested oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill on laughing gulls.

The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig released, millions of gallons of oil into the environment, subsequently exposing wildlife, including numerous bird species. To determine the effects of MC252 oil to species relevant to the Gulf of Mexico, studies were done examining multiple exposure scenarios and doses. In this study, laughing gulls (Leucophaeus atricilla, LAGU) were offered fish injected with MC252 oil at target doses of 5 or 10mL/kg bw per day. Dosing continued for 27 days. Of the adult, mixed-sex LAGUs used in the present study, ten of 20 oil exposed LAGUs survived to the end of the study; a total of 10 of the oil exposed LAGUs died or were euthanized within 20 days of initiation of the study. Endpoints associated with oxidative stress, hepatic total glutathione (tGSH), oxidized glutathione (GSSG) and reduced glutathione (rGSH) significantly increased as mean dose of oil increased, while the rGSH:GSSG ratio showed a non-significant negative trend with oil dose. A significant increase in 3-methyl histidine was found in oil exposed birds when compared to controls indicative of muscle wastage and may have been associated with the gross observation of diminished structural integrity in cardiac tissue. Consistent with previous oil dosing studies in birds, significant changes in liver, spleen, and kidney weight when normalized to body weight were observed. These studies indicate that mortality in response to oil dosing is relatively common and the mortality exhibited by the gulls is consistent with previous studies examining oil toxicity. Whether survival effects in the gull study were associated with weight loss, physiologic effects of oil toxicity, or a behavioral response that led the birds to reject the dosed fish is unknown.

Reprint of: Overview of avian toxicity studies for the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment.

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 establishes liability for injuries to natural resources because of the release or threat of release of oil. Assessment of injury to natural resources resulting from an oil spill and development and implementation of a plan for the restoration, rehabilitation, replacement or acquisition of natural resources to compensate for those injuries is accomplished through the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process. The NRDA process began within a week of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which occurred on April 20, 2010. During the spill, more than 8500 dead and impaired birds representing at least 93 avian species were collected. In addition, there were more than 3500 birds observed to be visibly oiled. While information in the literature at the time helped to identify some of the effects of oil on birds, it was not sufficient to fully characterize the nature and extent of the injuries to the thousands of live oiled birds, or to quantify those injuries in terms of effects on bird viability. As a result, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed various assessment activities to inform NRDA injury determination and quantification analyses associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, including avian toxicity studies. The goal of these studies was to evaluate the effects of oral exposure to 1-20ml of artificially weathered Mississippi Canyon 252 oil kg bw-1 day-1 from one to 28 days or one to five applications of oil to 20% of the bird's surface area. It was thought that these exposure levels would not result in immediate or short-term mortality but might result in physiological effects that ultimately could affect avian survival, reproduction and health. These studies included oral dosing studies, an external dosing study, metabolic and flight performance studies and field-based flight studies. Results of these studies indicated changes in hematologic endpoints including formation of Heinz bodies and changes in cell counts. There were also effects on multiple organ systems, cardiac function and oxidative status. External oiling affected flight patterns and time spent during flight tasks indicating that migration may be affected by short-term repeated exposure to oil. Feather damage also resulted in increased heat loss and energetic demands. The papers in this special issue indicate that the combined effects of oil toxicity and feather effects in avian species, even in the case of relatively light oiling, can significantly affect the overall health of birds.

Testing of an oral dosing technique for double-crested cormorants, Phalacocorax auritus, laughing gulls, Leucophaeus atricilla, homing pigeons, Columba livia, and western sandpipers, Calidris mauri, with artificially weather MC252 oil.

Scoping studies were designed to determine if double-crested cormorants (Phalacocorax auritus), laughing gulls (Leucophaues atricilla), homing pigeons (Columba livia) and western sandpipers (Calidris mauri) that were gavaged with a mixture of artificially weathered MC252 oil and food for either a single day or 4-5 consecutive days showed signs of oil toxicity. Where volume allowed, samples were collected for hematology, plasma protein electrophoresis, clinical chemistry and electrolytes, oxidative stress and organ weigh changes. Double-crested cormorants, laughing gulls and western sandpipers all excreted oil within 30min of dose, while pigeons regurgitated within less than one hour of dosing. There were species differences in the effectiveness of the dosing technique, with double-crested cormorants having the greatest number of responsive endpoints at the completion of the trial. Statistically significant changes in packed cell volume, white cell counts, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, creatine phosphokinase, gamma glutamyl transferase, uric acid, chloride, sodium, potassium, calcium, total glutathione, glutathione disulfide, reduced glutathione, spleen and liver weights were measured in double-crested cormorants. Homing pigeons had statistically significant changes in creatine phosphokinase, total glutathione, glutathione disulfide, reduced glutathione and Trolox equivalents. Laughing gulls exhibited statistically significant decreases in spleen and kidney weight, and no changes were observed in any measurement endpoints tested in western sandpipers.

Overview of avian toxicity studies for the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment.

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 establishes liability for injuries to natural resources because of the release or threat of release of oil. Assessment of injury to natural resources resulting from an oil spill and development and implementation of a plan for the restoration, rehabilitation, replacement or acquisition of natural resources to compensate for those injuries is accomplished through the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process. The NRDA process began within a week of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which occurred on April 20, 2010. During the spill, more than 8500 dead and impaired birds representing at least 93 avian species were collected. In addition, there were more than 3500 birds observed to be visibly oiled. While information in the literature at the time helped to identify some of the effects of oil on birds, it was not sufficient to fully characterize the nature and extent of the injuries to the thousands of live oiled birds, or to quantify those injuries in terms of effects on bird viability. As a result, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed various assessment activities to inform NRDA injury determination and quantification analyses associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, including avian toxicity studies. The goal of these studies was to evaluate the effects of oral exposure to 1-20ml of artificially weathered Mississippi Canyon 252 oil kg bw-1 day-1 from one to 28 days or one to five applications of oil to 20% of the bird's surface area. It was thought that these exposure levels would not result in immediate or short-term mortality but might result in physiological effects that ultimately could affect avian survival, reproduction and health. These studies included oral dosing studies, an external dosing study, metabolic and flight performance studies and field-based flight studies. Results of these studies indicated changes in hematologic endpoints including formation of Heinz bodies and changes in cell counts. There were also effects on multiple organ systems, cardiac function and oxidative status. External oiling affected flight patterns and time spent during flight tasks indicating that migration may be affected by short-term repeated exposure to oil. Feather damage also resulted in increased heat loss and energetic demands. The papers in this special issue indicate that the combined effects of oil toxicity and feather effects in avian species, even in the case of relatively light oiling, can significantly affect the overall health of birds.

Smoking rates among gamblers at Nevada casinos mirror US smoking rate.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the percentage of gamblers who smoke while gambling at three of Nevada's major gambling destinations, Las Vegas, Reno/Sparks and Lake Tahoe. METHODS: Teams of two people counted the number of smokers and total number of gamblers at various Nevada casinos. The total number of gamblers observed smoking was then multiplied by three to determine the total number of smokers. This methodology for determining the number of smokers in a room was established by Repace and Lowry in 1980. RESULTS: We observed a total of 14 052 gamblers at the three sites, of which a total of 947 were smoking. We estimated the percentage of smokers at three gaming tourist centres in Nevada (Las Vegas, Reno/Sparks and Lake Tahoe). The percentage of smokers at Las Vegas (20.3% (95% CI 0.9)) and Reno/Sparks (21.5% (95% CI 1.2%)) did not significantly differ from the US population percentage of smokers (20.9% (95% CI 0.6%)) (p>0.05). However, at Lake Tahoe the percentage of smokers (16.4% (95% CI 1.8%)) was significantly lower than the published US population smoker percentage (p<0.0001). Mean percentage of smokers by location did not significantly differ (p = 0.43) CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that the percentage of gamblers who smoke was less than or not different from the overall US percentage of a population who smoke. These findings provide additional evidence to refute the exemption to smoking bans for casinos based upon the supposition that a greater percentage of casino customers are smokers than the general population and therefore a smoking ban for casinos may result in an economic hardship.

Bioactivation of mitomycin C by xanthine dehydrogenase from EMT6 mouse mammary carcinoma tumors.

BACKGROUND: Mitomycin C is an antineoplastic antibiotic requiring bioactivation to an alkylating species or to an intermediate capable of generating oxygen radicals for its toxic effect. The enzymes responsible for the in vivo activation of mitomycin C have been proposed to include NADPH-cytochrome-c reductase, DT-diaphorase, and xanthine oxidase. PURPOSE: In this study, xanthine dehydrogenase, an enzyme structurally similar to xanthine oxidase, was assessed for its ability to activate mitomycin C. Partially purified xanthine dehydrogenase, from EMT6 mouse mammary tumors, was investigated for its ability to bioactivate mitomycin C under both aerobic and hypoxic conditions. METHODS: We conducted this analysis by measuring mitomycin C-induced oxygen consumption, alkylating potential, and mitomycin C consumption and metabolite formation as determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography analysis. RESULTS: Bioactivation of mitomycin C by xanthine dehydrogenase under both aerobic and hypoxic conditions gave rise to the formation of a metabolite, 2,7-diaminomitosene. Formation of this metabolite and alkylating ability were greater under hypoxic than under aerobic conditions and were increased when the pH was decreased from 7.4 to 6.0. Mitomycin C consumption was the same under both aerobic and hypoxic conditions and was independent of pH. Oxygen consumption studies showed that xanthine dehydrogenase-activated mitomycin C consumed oxygen at a much lower rate than xanthine oxidase-activated mitomycin C. CONCLUSIONS: Xanthine dehydrogenase-activated mitomycin C appears to be a good alkylating species but a relatively poor generator of reactive oxygen when compared with xanthine oxidase activation under aerobic conditions. IMPLICATION: Xanthine dehydrogenase may play an important role in the bioactivation of mitomycin C to an alkylating species under both aerobic and hypoxic conditions.

Kinetics and mechanism of mitomycin C bioactivation by xanthine dehydrogenase under aerobic and hypoxic conditions.

These studies examined the kinetic and mechanistic parameters of mitomycin C (MMC) bioreduction by xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH), an enzyme recently shown to be capable of MMC activation. The bioreduction of MMC by XDH leads to the formation of 2,7-diaminomitosene (2,7-DM) under both aerobic and hypoxic conditions, with greater 2,7-DM formation observed under hypoxic conditions. The XDH-induced formation of 2,7-DM is pH dependent with increasing formation as the pH is varied from 7.4 to 6.0. In this study, the kinetics of MMC bioreduction by XDH was assessed under aerobic and hypoxic conditions and at pH 7.4 and 6.0. MMC interaction with XDH was also assessed by monitoring the ability of MMC to inhibit XDH-mediated uric acid and NADH formation. The ability of xanthine to serve as reducing equivalents for MMC reduction was also measured. Aerobically but not hypoxically, MMC reduction by XDH followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Kinetic constants calculated under aerobic conditions suggested that the pH-dependent increase (pH 6.0 > pH 7.4) in MMC activation by XDH is due to an approximately 2-fold decrease in the Km and a 2-fold increase in the Vmax at pH 6.0. Stimulation of uric acid formation and decreases in NADH formation by XDH in the presence of MMC suggest that MMC interaction with XDH may occur at the NAD(+)-binding region of the enzyme. The ability of xanthine to serve as reducing equivalents for MMC conversion to 2,7-DM also supports the hypothesis that MMC reduction is occurring at the NAD+ site.

Generation of reactive oxygen radicals through bioactivation of mitomycin antibiotics.

Mitomycin C (MC) is a naturally occurring anticancer agent which has been shown to be more cytotoxic to hypoxic tumor cells than to their aerobic counterparts. The mechanism of action of this agent is thought to involve biological reductive activation, to a species that alkylates DNA. A comparison of the cytotoxicity of MC to EMT6 tumor cells with that of the structural analogues porfiromycin (PM), N-(N',N'-dimethylaminomethylene)amine analogue of mitomycin C (BMY-25282), and N-(N',N'-dimethylaminomethylene)amine analogue of porfiromycin (BL-6783) has demonstrated that PM is considerably less cytotoxic to aerobic EMT6 cells than MC, whereas BMY-25282 and BL-6783 are significantly more toxic. The relative abilities of each of these compounds to generate oxygen free radicals following biological activation were measured. Tumor cell sonicates, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-cytochrome c reductase, xanthine oxidase, and mitochondria were used as the biological reducing systems. All four mitomycin antibiotics produced oxygen radicals following biological reduction, a process that may account for the aerobic cytotoxicity of agents of this class. The generation of relative amounts of superoxide and hydroxyl radical were also measured in EMT6 cell sonicates. BMY-25282 and BL-6783 produced significantly greater quantities of oxygen free radicals with the EMT6 cell sonicate, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-cytochrome c reductase, and mitochondria than did MC and PM. In contrast, BMY-25282 and BL-6783 did not generate detectable levels of free radicals in the presence of xanthine oxidase, whereas this enzyme was capable of generating free radicals with MC and PM as substrates. MC consistently produced greater amounts of free radicals than PM with all of the reducing systems. BMY-25282, BL-6783, and MC all generated hydroxyl radicals, while PM did not appear to form these radicals. The findings indicate that a correlation exists between the ability of the mitomycin antibiotics to generate oxygen radicals and their cytotoxicity to aerobic EMT6 tumor cells.

Enhancement of xanthine dehydrogenase mediated mitomycin C metabolism by dicumarol.

These studies examined the effect of dicumarol on xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH), an enzyme recently shown to bioreduce mitomycin C. Dicumarol, which has previously been shown to inhibit xanthine oxidase (XO), inhibited both XDH and XO mediated conversion of xanthine to uric acid but potentiated the metabolism of mitomycin C by XDH and XO. Formation of 2,7-diaminomitosene following mitomycin C bioactivation by XDH was increased 3-fold aerobically and 4-fold hypoxically when 20 microM dicumarol was included in the reaction mixture. XO mediated metabolism of mitomycin C hypoxically was increased approximately 50% by the inclusion of dicumarol.

Oxidative stress induced by environmental tobacco smoke in the workplace is mitigated by antioxidant supplementation.

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is a pervasive contaminant in the workplace. Previous studies by this laboratory have shown that exposure to workplace ETS results in increased oxidative stress and damage, as measured by increased levels of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione peroxidase. 8-Hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine, a marker of oxidative DNA damage, was also 63% greater in the exposed group compared with controls. Subjects in the previous study who reported workplace exposure to ETS were given a 60-day supply of an over-the-counter antioxidant formulation consisting of 3000 microg of beta-carotene, 60 mg of vitamin C, 30 I.U. of alpha-tocopherol, 40 mg of zinc, 40 microg of selenium, and 2 mg of copper. After the 60-day supplementation period, blood samples were again drawn, and the results were compared with the presupplementation values. A 62% decrease in 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine was observed after supplementation. Lipid peroxidation levels were also decreased, as were the antioxidant enzyme activities. The biochemical evidence suggests that exposure to ETS in the workplace increases oxidative stress and that antioxidant supplementation may provide some protection.

Environmental tobacco smoke in the workplace induces oxidative stress in employees, including increased production of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine.

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is a pervasive contaminant in the workplace. Our objective was to determine the oxidative stress effects of ETS on employees who are exposed. The results provide information that is useful to the resolution of risk assessment questions associated with ETS. We analyzed two blood draws from volunteers in our control and exposed groups. The level of exposure to ETS was determined through plasma cotinine measurements, which showed a 65% increase from the control group to the exposed group. Exposure to ETS resulted in a statistically significant increase of 63% of the oxidative DNA mutagen 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in the blood of exposed subjects. This oxidative DNA damage has been linked to an increased risk of developing several degenerative chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease and cancer. The exposed subjects also had increased levels of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPOX), and glutathione reductase. However, these increases were only statistically significant in catalase and GPOX. Catalase levels were 13% higher in the exposed group, and GPOX levels were 37% higher in exposed volunteers. The biochemical evidence suggests that exposure to ETS causes oxidative stress, resulting in DNA damage that may increase the risk of certain diseases.

Relative contributions of mouse liver subcellular fractions to the bioactivation of mitomycin C at various pH levels.

Mitomycin C (MMC) is a clinically active anticancer drug that requires reductive activation to exert its toxicity. The enzymes currently recognized as capable of activating MMC cannot account for all of the toxicity of the drug. These studies were conducted to identify and compare the subcellular compartments where MMC reduction can take place under different physiological conditions. Subcellular fractionation of mouse liver was achieved using differential centrifugation and isopycnic equilibrium gradient centrifugation. Nuclear, mitochondrial, microsomal, lysosomal, peroxisomal, and cytosolic fractions were assayed for their ability to reductively activate MMC at pH 6.0 and 7.4. MMC reductive activation was determined by its ability to generate reactive oxygen species. The results of these studies showed that MMC reductive activation by the various fractions was pH dependent. At pH 7.4, the microsomal fraction accounted for approximately 78% of the total MMC reductive activation. The peroxisomal fraction accounted for 12% and the nuclear and lysosomal fractions each accounted for 5% of the total reductive activation. At pH 6.0, the microsomes accounted for 51% and the peroxisomes for 34% of the total reductive activation. The mitochondrial fraction, which did not reductively activate MMC at pH 7.4, accounted for 9% of the total activation at pH 6.0. These results suggested that peroxisomes may be important in MMC activation at either pH and that at pH 6.0 the mitochondrial fraction may also be important for MMC reductive activation.

A redox cycling mechanism of action for 2,3-dichloro-1,4-naphthoquinone with mitochondrial membranes and the role of sulfhydryl groups.

The addition of 2,3-dichloro-1,4-naphthoquinone (CNQ) to substrate-depleted, GSH-supplemented rat liver mitochondria resulted in a dose-dependent depletion of reactable suflhydryl groups and a concomitant increase in mitochondrial disulfide content at a ratio of 2 thiols depleted/disulfide generated. The molar ratio of thiol depleted/CNQ added approached 20 at low CNQ concentrations and was unity at higher doses. The addition of CNQ to substrate-depleted mitochondrial suspensions resulted in O2 consumption which increased with increasing concentrations of mitochondria and was sensitive to N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) which establishes the ability of CNQ to interact with mitochondrial thiol redox centers. The CNQ-mediated large amplitude swelling of rat liver mitochondria was exacerbated by thiol oxidizing agents and depressed by disulfide reducing agents. A redox cycling mechanism between mitochondrial thiol groups, CNQ and oxygen was proposed to lower the matrix glutathione pool and make the mitochondria more susceptable to toxic oxygen radicals which induce swelling in isolated mitochondrial suspensions. In support of this mechanism, alpha-tocopherol was shown to prevent the CNQ-mediated swelling process. Beef heart mitochondrial NADH was oxidized by CNQ in a 1/1 molar ratio anaerobically and in a 3/1 molar ratio under aerobic conditions, whereas the fully reduced quinone, CNQH2, oxidized NADH aerobically but not anaerobically. Thus, CNQ is capable of interacting with NADH of the mitochondrial electron transport chain in a redox cycling fashion.

PZ-51 (Ebselen) in vivo protection against adriamycin-induced mouse cardiac and hepatic lipid peroxidation and toxicity.

Adriamycin (Adr)-induced cardiotoxicity occurs most likely via an oxidative mechanism of action. Moderation of this activity may result in an improved therapeutic index for this compound. PZ-51, 2-phenyl-1,2-benzoisoselenazol-3(2H)-one, is a selenoorganic compound with thiol-dependent, peroxidase-like activity. We tested this compound alone and in combination with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) for its effect on Adr-induced in vivo toxicity in Balb/c mice. These studies demonstrated that PZ-51 protects against Adr-induced lipid peroxidation in heart and liver tissue and Adr-induced toxicity in general, as measured by total serum creatine kinase activity and body weight.

Metabolic consequences of dietary 2,3-dichloro-1,4-naphthoquinone (CNQ) in the rat. Alteration in anti-oxidant enzyme activities.

Dietary exposure of rats to a high concentration of 2,3-dichloro-1,4-naphthoquinone (CNQ) (2 g/kg diet) for 60 days altered cardiac mitochondrial function and activities of anti-oxidant enzymes in hepatic and cardiac tissue. CNQ moderately depressed the cardiac mitochondrial respiratory control ratio (RCR) to 85% of control; this was exacerbated to 60% of control in animals fed alpha-tocopherol-deficient diets. Dietary CNQ increased hepatic superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activities and increased cardiac SOD activity, but depressed cardiac glutathione reductase and hepatic glutathione peroxidase activities. These effects are consistent with previous in vitro findings that CNQ induces oxidative stress. No significant differences in heart weight or body weight were observed in rats fed CNQ as compared to untreated controls.

Bioreductive metabolism of mitomycin C in EMT6 mouse mammary tumor cells: cytotoxic and non-cytotoxic pathways, leading to different types of DNA adducts. The effect of dicumarol.

The six DNA adducts formed in EMT6 mouse mammary tumor cells upon treatment with mitomycin C (MC) fall into two groups: (1) four guanine adducts of MC and (2) two guanine adducts derived from 2,7-diaminomitosene (2,7-DAM), the major reductive metabolite of MC. The two groups of adducts were proposed to originate from two pathways arising from reductive activation of MC: (a) direct alkylation of DNA and (b) formation of 2,7-DAM, which then alkylates DNA. The aim of this study was to test the validity of this proposal and to evaluate the significance of alkylation of DNA by 2,7-DAM. Treatment of the cells with 2,7-DAM itself yielded the same 2,7-DAM-guanine adducts as treatment with MC; however, 2,7-DAM was approximately 100-fold less cytotoxic than MC. The uptake and efflux of 2,7-DAM by EMT6 cells was comparable to that of MC, but 2,7-DAM alkylated DNA with higher efficiency than MC. These results validate the two proposed pathways and show that formation of 2,7-DAM-DNA adducts in MC-treated cells represents a relatively non-toxic pathway of reductive metabolism of MC. A selective stimulatory effect of dicumarol (DIC) on 2,7-DAM-DNA adduct formation in EMT6 cells treated with MC was also investigated. DIC had no effect on alkylation by MC in cell-free systems, nor did it have significant effects on adduct formation or cell survival for cells treated with 2,7-DAM. It is proposed that in the cell DIC stimulates a reductase enzyme located at subcellular sites where the activated MC species has no direct access to DNA and therefore is diverted into the non-cytotoxic pathway, which leads to the formation of 2,7-DAM and its adducts.

Inhibition of mitomycin C's aerobic toxicity by the seleno-organic antioxidant PZ-51.

Mitomycin C (MMC) is a bioreductive alkylating agent that is capable of generating oxygen radicals. Porfiromycin (PM) is an analog to MMC that generates oxygen radicals at a significantly lower level than the parent compound. Under aerobic conditions, the toxicity of MMC to EMT6 cells is 2.5-fold that of PM, whereas hypoxically the two are equitoxic. In the present studies, the protective effect of PZ-51 in combination with NAC was assessed against the dose-dependent toxicity of either MMC or PM under both aerobic and hypoxic conditions. Aerobically, the PZ-51 and NAC combination inhibited the toxicity of MMC at concentrations of between 0.25 and 2 microM but had no effect on PM toxicity. Under hypoxic conditions, the PZ-51 and NAC combination had no effect on either MMC or PM toxicity. These findings support a role for oxygen radical generation in the aerobic toxicity of MMC at clinically relevant doses.

Preferential kill of hypoxic EMT6 mammary tumor cells by the bioreductive alkylating agent porfiromycin.

Hypoxic cells in solid tumors represent a therapeutically resistant population that limits the curability of many solid tumors by irradiation and by most chemotherapeutic agents. The oxygen deficit, however, creates an environment conducive to reductive processes; this results in a major exploitable difference between normal and neoplastic tissues. The mitomycin antibiotics can be reductively activated by a number of oxidoreductases, in a process required for the production of their therapeutic effects. Preferential activation of these drugs under hypoxia and greater toxicity to oxygen-deficient cells than to their oxygenated counterparts are obtained in most instances. The demonstration that mitomycin C and porfiromycin, used to kill the hypoxic fraction, in combination with irradiation, to eradicate the oxygenated portion of the tumor, produced enhanced cytodestructive effects on solid tumors in animals has led to the clinical evaluation of the mitomycins in combination with radiation therapy in patients with head and neck cancer. The findings from these clinical trials have demonstrated the value of directing a concerted therapeutic attack on the hypoxic fraction of solid tumors as an approach toward enhancing the curability of localized neoplasms by irradiation.

Xanthine dehydrogenase and its role in cancer chemotherapy.

Xanthine dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.204) is a molybdenum iron-sulfur, flavin hydroxylase whose physiological role is ascribed to purine catabolism. Its ready conversion to its oxidase counterpart, xanthine oxidase (EC 1.1.3.22), under normal isolation conditions has complicated studies of this enzyme in the past. Many studies in the past have looked at the role of xanthine oxidase in the metabolism of chemotherapeutic agents requiring bioreductive activation for their antineoplastic activities. This paper reviews some of xanthine dehydrogenase's biological and physiological parameters as well as recent studies into the xanthine dehydrogenase-induced activation of bioreductive agents. Studies are also presented that point out this enzyme's potential role in mitomycin C-induced cytotoxicity to EMT6 cells under aerobic and hypoxic conditions. The potential importance of xanthine dehydrogenase as an enzyme targeted in chemotherapeutic regimens is discussed.

A new cellular target for mitomycin C: a case for mitochondrial DNA.

Mitomycin C (MMC) is an anticancer, antibiotic that is currently used clinically against a wide variety of tumors. Nuclear DNA is regarded as the primary cellular target for mitomycin's toxicity. In this study, the effect of MMC on mitochondrial DNA was tested both in vitro and in vivo. EMT6 mouse mammary carcinoma cells were treated with MMC and conformational changes in their mitochondrial DNA were determined as a measure of mitochondrial DNA damage. A dose-dependent relationship was observed between MMC treatment dosages and mitochondrial DNA damage. Liver tissue mitochondria from Balb/c mice treated with MMC were assayed for mitochondrial integrity. Mitochondrial integrity was lowered in the MMC-treated animals. Liver tissue adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels were also shown to be significantly decreased in these same animals. We also show that MMC can be activated by mitochondria. These studies provide strong evidence that mitochondrial DNA is a target for MMC and that this interaction has a biochemical consequence that could prove toxic.