Environmental polychlorinated biphenyl exposure and cytochromes P450 in raccoons (Procyon lotor).
An investigation involving raccoons as a sentinel species at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) and Ballard Wildlife Management Area in western Kentucky (USA) delineated the extent of exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Three separate measures of hepatic cytochrome P450 (CYP) induction were used to evaluate raccoon physiological responses to PCB exposure. Hepatic CYP induction was estimated via determination of total CYP, dealkylase activities, and immunoreactive proteins. There were no differences in raccoon biomarker responses between study sites. Significant relationships between and among PCB residues and biomarkers indicated that hepatic CYP induction had occurred in response to PCB exposure. Pentoxyresorufin O-deethylase (PROD) activity, CYP1A1, and CYP1A2 were biomarkers most closely associated with PCB exposure. The rank order of responses was CYP1A1 > CYP1A2 > PROD > ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) as related to raccoon liver PCB concentrations, whereas the order was CYP1A1 > PROD > EROD > CYP1A2 when regressed with total PCB concentrations in abdominal fat.
Smith
Philip N
PN
The Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Texas Tech University/Texas Tech Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas 79409-1163, USA. phil.smith@ttu.edu
Bandiera
Stelvio M
SM
Skipper
Sherry L
SL
Johnson
Kevin A
KA
McMurry
Scott T
ST
D000818:Animals; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D004790:Enzyme Induction; D007629:Kentucky; D008669:Metallurgy; D008862:Microsomes, Liver / Q000201:enzymology*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000633:toxicity*; D011821:Raccoons / Q000378:metabolism*
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls