title: Elimination of porphyrins and their precursors in rats pretreated with hexabromobenzene.
abstract: The elimination times of porphyrins and their precursors and of hexabromobenzene (HBB) itself were studied in female rats given 15 mg HBB by stomach tube every other day for 4 months. The concentrations of HBB in the blood, liver and adipose tissue were in the ratio 1:1.5:25, 24 hr after the last dose. Two weeks after the end of treatment, HBB was no longer detectable in the tissues. In animals given a single oral dose of 16.6 mg HBB/kg body weight, HBB was no longer detectable in adipose tissue 12 days after dosing. The half-life of HBB in adipose tissue was about 2.5 days in the animals given HBB for 4 months, and at the end of the treatment the concentrations of porphyrin in the liver, urine and faeces were increased to about 1000, 600-700 and 60-70 times the control values. The amounts of delta-aminolaevulinic acid and porphobilinogen in the urine of treated animals were 6-7 times those in controls. After the end of HBB treatment, it took almost 1.5 yr for delta-aminolaevulinic acid and porphobilinogen excretion to return to normal. Nearly 2 yr were needed for complete elimination of the accumulated liver porphyrins.
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism; D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid / Q000652:urine; D000818:Animals; D001969:Bromobenzenes / Q000378:metabolism*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005243:Feces / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D011166:Porphyrins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D001969:Bromobenzenes; D011166:Porphyrins; D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid; C017363:hexabromobenzene