title: Immunoassay of haemoglobin-acrylonitrile adduct in rat as a biomarker of exposure.
abstract: Acrylonitrile (AN) is a rat carcinogen. Human exposure may come from chemical industries and smoking. A haemoglobin adduct of acrylonitrile (Hb-AN) has been used as a biomarker of exposure by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. We have developed specific monoclonal antibodies (Mab) to human Hb-AN and wish to report evaluation of an immunoassay in rats using an Mab that cross-reacts with rat Hb-AN. A dose response study of LD 0, 10, 50, and 90 in Sprague-Dawley rats was undertaken, with each rat receiving \[2,3-14C]AN at 50 Ci kg-1 sc, and Hb from an aliquot of blood was taken for covalent binding analysis by liquid scintillation spectrometry and fluorescence ELISA. The dose responses of rats at 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 h after AN doses of 20, 50, 80, 115 mg kg-1 were compared by both methods with Hb and globin samples. Regression analysis showed a linear relationship between immunoassay and 14C-AN binding. This indicates that an antigenic form of Hb-AN may be used as a surrogate of Hb-AN adduct. The sensitivity of ELISA was tested in rats exposed for 1 h to sub-toxic doses of AN (10-1.1 mg kg-1). Quantification of Hb-AN by immunoassay was achieved by calibration with a synthetic adduct HbAN4h, a reference adduct prepared by treating rat Hb with excess AN for 4 h. ELISA and GC-MS analysis of N-terminal valine-AN in the Hb-AN adduct were compared and similar detection levels were found. This rat study appears to have validated the new immunoassay method for biomonitoring of AN exposure.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: L Wong Yu Ting Zheng Junyu Li Carlo H Tamburro Frederick W Benz