Tiered application of the neutral red release and EpiOcular™ assays for evaluating the eye irritation potential of agrochemical formulations.

Agrochemical formulations have been underrepresented in validation efforts for implementing alternative eye irritation approaches but represent a significant opportunity to reduce animal testing. This study assesses the utility of the neutral red release assay (NRR) and EpiOcular™ assay (EO) for predicting the eye irritation potential of 64 agrochemical formulations relative to Draize data. In the NRR, formulations with an NRR50 value ≤ 50 mg/mL were categorized as UN GHS Cat 1 and those >250 mg/mL were classified as UN GHS Non Classified (NC). The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were 78, 85 and 76% and 73, 85 and 61% for identifying UN GHS 1 and NC formulations, respectively. Specificity was poor for formulations with NRR50 > 50 to ≤250 mg/mL. The EO (ET-40 method) was explored to differentiate formulations that were UN GHS 1/2 and UN GHS NC. The EO resulted in accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 65%, 58% and 75% for identifying UN GHS NC formulations. To improve the overall performance, the assays were implemented using a tiered-approach where the NRR was run as a first-tier followed by the EO. The tiered-approach resulted in improved accuracy (75%) and balanced sensitivity (73%) and specificity (77%) for distinguishing between irritating and non-irritating agrochemical formulations.

In vitro metabolism and covalent binding of ethylbenzene to microsomal protein as a possible mechanism of ethylbenzene-induced mouse lung tumorigenesis.

This study was conducted to determine species differences in covalent binding of the reactive metabolites of ethylbenzene (EB) formed in the liver and lung microsomes of mouse, rat and human in the presence of NADPH. These data further the understanding of the mechanism by which EB causes mouse specific lung toxicity and a follow-up to our earlier report of the selective elevation, although minor, of the ring-oxidized reactive metabolites in mouse lung microsomes (Saghir et al., 2009). Binding assays were also conducted with or without 5-phenyl-1-pentyne (5P1P), an inhibitor of CYP 2F2, and diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC), an inhibitor of CYP 2E1 to evaluate their role in the formation of the related reactive metabolites. Liver and lung microsomes were incubated with (14)C-EB (0.22 mM) in the presence of 1mM NADPH under physiological conditions for 60 min. In lung microsomes, binding activity was in the order of mouse (812.4+/-102.2 pmol/mg protein)>>rat (57.0+/-3.2 pmol/mg protein). Human lung microsomes had little binding activity (15.7+/-1.4 pmol/mg protein), which was comparable to the no-NADPH control (9.9-16.7 pmol/mg protein). In liver microsomes, mouse had the highest activity (469.0+/-38.5 pmol/mg protein) followed by rat (148.3+/-14.7 pmol/mg protein) and human (89.8+/-3.0 pmol/mg protein). Presence of 5P1P or DDTC decreased binding across species and tissues. However, much higher inhibition was observed in mouse (86% [DDTC] and 89% [5P1P]) than rat (56% [DDTC] and 59% [5P1P]) lung microsomes. DDTC showed approximately 2-fold higher inhibition of binding in mouse and human liver microsomes than 5P1P (mouse=85% vs. 40%; human=59% vs. 36%). Inhibition in binding by DDTC was much higher (10-fold) than 5P1P (72% vs. 7%) in rat liver microsomes. These results show species, tissue and enzyme differences in the formation of reactive metabolites of EB. In rat and mouse lung microsomes, both CYP2E1 and CYP2F2 appear to contribute in the formation of reactive metabolites of EB. In contrast, CYP2E1 appears to be the primary CYP isozyme responsible for the reactive metabolites of EB in the liver.

Quantitation of glutathione by liquid chromatography/positive electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.

Glutathione (GSH) is a tripeptide composed of glutamate, cysteine, and glycine. It is present in practically all cells and has several important roles, such as preventing the oxidation of the sulfhydryl groups of proteins within a cell. Evidence for GSH deficiency or depletion has been found in a variety of diseases and toxicity-related studies, including diabetes and induction of oxidative stress to form reactive oxygen species which cause DNA, lipid, and protein oxidations. A simple, selective, and sensitive analytical method for measuring low levels of GSH in biological fluids would therefore be desirable to conduct GSH deficiency or depletion-related mechanistic toxicity studies. Here a method for both low- and high-level quantitation of GSH from cultured cells and rat liver tissues via liquid chromatography/positive electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS) has been developed. The lower limit of quantitation (LOQ) of the method was 5 ng/mL. The method is linear over a wide dynamic concentration range of 5.0 to 5000.0 ng/mL, with a correlation coefficient R2 > 0.99. The intra-day assay precision relative standard deviation (RSD) values for all quality control (QC) samples were < or =16.31%, with accuracy values ranging from 94.13 to 97.80%. The inter-day assay precision RSD values for all QC samples were < or =15.94%, with accuracy values ranging from 94.51 to 100.29%. With this method, low levels of GSH from diethyl maleate (DEM)-treated mouse lymphoma cells, and GSH in rat liver tissues, were quantified.

Mechanism of trifluralin-induced thyroid tumors in rats.

Trifluralin, an herbicide, has been reported to cause a significant increase in thyroid follicular cell tumors in male Fischer 344 rats. This study was designed to determine the mechanism of thyroid hyperactivity after trifluralin exposure. A group of 15 male Fischer 344 rats were exposed to trifluralin-fortified (6500 ppm) diet for 2 weeks. The time weighted average daily intake of trifluralin was 441+/-77 mg/kg/day. Ten rats of the group were sacrificed and the sera analyzed for T3, T4, and TSH levels. The livers were also analyzed for selected T4-specific UGT gene expression and total UGT enzyme activity. In the trifluralin treated rats, the serum T3 and T4 levels decreased by 17% and 90%, respectively and TSH increased by 37% more than the control rats. Trifluralin-induced total hepatic UGT enzymes (2.4-fold) and mRNA expression of selected hepatic UGT isozymes (UGT1A1, 1.4-fold; UGT1A6, 6.4-fold; UGT2B1, 3.7-fold). For the remaining 5 rats in the group, bile was collected for 2 h and analyzed for free and conjugated T3 and T4. The total amount of T4 in bile more than doubled in trifluralin treated rats. Trifluralin treatment increased bile flow, caused a 3.2-fold increase in biliary elimination of conjugated T4 and 63% increase in conjugated T3. Based on these data, the decrease in total serum T3 and T4 levels in the trifluralin treated rats was due to enhanced peripheral metabolism and an increase in bile flow that results in a compensatory increase in TSH synthesis and secretion. The increased levels of TSH with chronic exposure to trifluralin would exert a continuous stimulation of the thyroid gland leading to cellular hypertrophy and proliferation predisposing to the development of follicular cell tumors in rats.

Stability of a set of allergens and non-allergens in simulated gastric fluid.

Stability in simulated gastric fluid has been suggested as a parameter for consideration in the allergenicity assessment of transgenic proteins. However, the relationship between the stability of proteins in simulated gastric fluid and allergenicity has been inconsistent among studies conducted with reference allergens and non-allergens. Differences in laboratory methods and data interpretation have been implicated as possible causes for conflicting study results. We attempted to mitigate some of the methodological inconsistencies among laboratory methods by applying a kinetic interpretation to results of digestion experiments conducted with a set of known allergens and putative non-allergens. We found that pepsinolysis in simulated gastric fluid generally followed an exponential (pseudo-first-order) pattern of decay, at least during the terminal (slower) phase of digestion, allowing the calculation of digestion half-lives. While digestibility estimates were reproducible and robust, results for the proteins evaluated in this study did not support a significant association between stability in simulated gastric fluid and allergenicity.