title: Modulation of 2,6-dinitrotoluene genotoxicity by alachlor treatment of Fischer 344 rats.
abstract: Due to its widespread use as a preemergent herbicide, alachlor has been detected as a groundwater contaminant. The procarcinogen, 2,6-dinitrotoluene (DNT), a by-product of the munitions industry and a precursor to polyurethane production, is found in the manufacturing waste stream. This study explores the effect of alachlor treatment on the bioactivation of DNT by examining urine mutagenicity, intestinal enzymes, and hepatic DNA adducts to detect changes in metabolism. Five-week-old male rats were treated daily by gavage with 50 mg/kg of alachlor for up to 5 weeks while control animals received an equal volume of peanut oil. At 1, 3, and 5 weeks following the initial alachlor dose, animals were administered p.o. 75 mg/kg DNT or DMSO. Urine was collected for 24 hr in metabolism cages. Following incubation with sulfatase and beta-glucuronidase, urines were individually concentrated by C-18 solid phase extraction, dried under N2, and prepared for bioassay in Salmonella typhimurium strain TA98 with and without metabolic activation. Urine from peanut oil- and alachlor-treated rots was not mutagenic. Even though calf thymus DNA-alachlor adducts formed in vitro, no hepatic DNA adducts were detected in vivo in these two treatment groups. Interestingly, a significant increase in excretion of mutagenic urine from DNT-treated rats was observed following 3 weeks of alachlor treatment in the absence of S9 (690 +/- 130 vs. 339 +/- 28 revertants/ml) which corresponded to increased DNT-related hepatic DNA adduct formation (5.90 +/- 0.88 adducts/10(8) nucleotides vs. 10.56 x +/- 0.59 adducts/10(8) nucleotides [relative adduct level (RAL)]). Elevation in the production of mutagenic urine from control and treated animals was linked to increases in intestinal nitroreductase and beta-glucuronidase activities; however, the only significant alachlor-related effects were an increase in small intestinal 1-week beta-glucuronidase and 5-week dehydrochlorinase activities. The increased urine mutagenicity and hepatic DNA adduct formation indicates that alachlor has a transient effect on DNT bioactivation that apparently is unrelated to intestinal bioactivation.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Carcinogenesis Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711, USA. george.elizabeth@epamail.epa.gov
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: George
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Allison
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: B T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Eischen
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kohan
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D000081:Acetamides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001711:Biotransformation / Q000187:drug effects*; D018736:DNA Adducts; D004136:Dinitrobenzenes / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000633:toxicity; D007422:Intestines / Q000201:enzymology; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008862:Microsomes, Liver / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D010573:Pesticide Residues / Q000494:pharmacology; D011355:Prodrugs / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity*; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D014556:Urine / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000081:Acetamides; D018736:DNA Adducts; D004136:Dinitrobenzenes; D010573:Pesticide Residues; D011355:Prodrugs; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C000188:alachlor; C023514:2,6-dinitrotoluene