Cellular effects of some metabolic oxidation products pertinent to 4-ethoxyaniline.

The toxicity of some metabolic products pertinent to 4-ethoxyaniline in isolated hepatocytes were investigated. The compounds investigated were 4-ethoxynitrosobenzene (1), 4-ethoxy-4'-nitrosodiphenylamine (2), 3,6-bis(4-ethoxy-phenylimino)-4-ethoxy-1,4-cyclohexadienylamine (3), 4-(4-ethoxyphenylimino)-2,3-dimethyl-2,5-cyclohexadiene-1-one (4) and 4-(4-ethoxyphenylimino)-2,6-dimethyl-2,5-cyclohexadiene-1-one (5). Of these, 1, 2 and 3 are oxidation products of 4-ethoxyaniline. Compounds 4 and 5 are dimethyl analogues of previously investigated oxidation product 4-(4-ethoxyphenylimino(-2,5-cyclohexadiene-1-one (NEPBQI). Among the investigated compounds, 1 and 2 were the most toxic towards isolated hepatocytes. In hepatocytes treated with compounds 1, 2 and 4, loss of cell viability was also accompanied by surface bleb formation. All compounds except 3 reacted with GSH resulting in depletion of cellular GSH. No formation of GSSG was observed, however. Thus, the GSH depletion was apparently due to conjugate formation rather than oxidation. No superoxide dismutase inhibitable reduction of acetylated cytochrome c was observed, thus none of the compounds undergoes measurable redox cycling.

[Twenty-eight-day repeated dose toxicity test of p-phenetidine in F344 rats].

A twenty-eight-day repeated dose toxicity test of p-phenetidine was carried out in male and female F344 rats at dose levels of 160, 40, 10 or 0 mg/kg/day. Thirty animals of both sexes were divided into 6 groups of equal number. All groups were treated daily by i.g. administration for 28 days, two extra groups of animals at dose levels of 160 and 0 mg/kg being used for investigation of recovery over 14 days. Hematological and urinary examinations revealed decrease in erythrocytes and increased serum reticulocytes and urinary urobilinogen in the 160 and 40 mg/kg groups of both sexes, and methemoglobinemia occurred in the 160 mg/kg group. Increase in spleen weight was noted in the 160 and 40 mg/kg groups. On histopathological examination, hemosiderosis, increased extramedullary hemopoiesis, congestion of the spleen and myeloid hyperplasia of the bone marrow were observed in the 160 and 40 mg/kg groups of both sexes. Repair of these lesions occurred within 14 days after the cessation of administration. Based on these findings, a no-observed-effect level for p-phenetidine would be concluded 10 mg/kg/day.

Carcinogenicity of bucetin in (C57BL/6 X C3H)F1 mice.

The carcinogenicity of bucetin [(3-hydroxy-p-butyrophenetidide) CAS: 1083-57-4], an antipyretic analgesic drug, was examined in 300 (C57BL/6 X C3H)F1 mice. Groups of 50 mice of each sex were treated with 1.5 or 0.75% bucetin in their basal diet for 76 weeks and then fed a basal diet for 8 weeks. Control groups were given a basal diet for 84 weeks. In 10 of 46 (22%) male mice given the high dose of bucetin and in 6 of 45 (13%) given the low dose, renal cell tumors were induced. Dysplastic lesions of the proximal tubules were frequently seen in the males given bucetin in a dose-related fashion. Neither tumorous nor preneoplastic lesions developed in the kidneys of bucetin-treated female mice and control animals. Papilloma of the urinary bladder in 1 male mouse and papillary or nodular hyperplasia in 9 mice of both sexes were observed in groups given the high dose of bucetin.

Mutagenicity of the phenacetin metabolites: N-hydroxy-p-phenetidine and nitrosophenetol in S. typhimurium TA100 and derivatives deficient in nitroreductase or O-acetylase: probes for testing intrabacterial metabolic activation.

Two mutagenic metabolites of phenacetin, p-nitrosophenetol and N-hydroxy-p-phenetidine, were tested in S. typhimurium strains TA100, its nitroreductase-deficient derivative TA100NR, and O-acetylase-deficient strains TA100 Tn5-1,8-DNP1011 and -DNP1012 in the presence or absence of an exogenous metabolic activation system. The results indicate that bacterial nitroreductase(s) and O-acetylase(s), shown to be involved in the conversion of certain nitroarenes, are not required for the intrabacterial activation of the two phenacetin metabolites to bacterial mutagens. In view of the low reactivity of nitrosoarenes towards nucleophiles at neutrality, the mechanism by which they exert such a high mutagenic effect in S. typhimurium strains remains to be clarified, but is discussed.

The synthesis and mutagenicity of the N-formyl analog of N-hydroxyphenacetin.

The synthesis and purification of N-hydroxy-N-formyl-p-phenetidine (N-OH-FP) is described. This new compound was subjected to mutagenicity testing using Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98, TA100, TA1535, TA1537 and TA1538 both in the presence and absence of the post-mitochondrial fraction of rat liver homogenate. Simultaneous mutagenicity testing of the known phenacetin metabolite, N-hydroxyphenacetin (N-OH-AP), was conducted with the same tester strains. The N-formyl derived hydroxamic acid (N-OH-FP) was found to be a much stronger mutagen than N-hydroxy-phenacetin (N-OH-AP). Furthermore, N-OH-FP also behaved as a direct-acting mutagen unlike N-OH-AP. The chemical stabilities of N-OH-AP and N-OH-FP were studied in phosphate buffer in the pH range of 3-8; and both the hydroxamic acids were found to be stable to the conditions employed. The results of this study support the hypothesis that enzymatic deacylation is an activation process for the expression of mutagenicity by hydroxamic acids.

Amphibian organ culture in experimental toxicology: the effects of paracetamol and phenacetin on cultured tissues from urodele and anuran amphibians.

Organ cultures of various tissues from urodele amphibians deacetylate paracetamol to p-aminophenol, which polymerises to form a brown precipitate. Paracetamol addition results in a loss of glycogen and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) from urodele liver cultures and an increase in glucose release, and in LDH loss from kidney cultures. Organ cultures from anuran amphibians are unable to metabolise paracetamol and are not affected by its presence in the culture medium. The addition of unpolymerised p-aminophenol resulted in a loss of LDH from urodele and anuran organ cultures, whilst the addition of polymerised p-aminophenol had no such effects. This suggests that the toxic effects which follow the addition of paracetamol to urodele organ cultures are caused by unpolymerised p-aminophenol, a known toxicant in mammals. Cultures from both urodele and anuran amphibians are able to deacetylate phenacetin to p-phenetidine, but p-phenetidine was found to be much less toxic to amphibian tissues than p-aminophenol, causing LDH loss from kidney cultures only at very high dose levels.