The decrease in uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase activity induced by ethanol predisposes rats to the development of porphyria and accelerates xenobiotic-triggered porphyria, regardless of hepatic damage

We evaluated the porphyrinogenic ability of ethanol (20 percent in drinking water) per se, its effect on the development of sporadic porphyria cutanea tarda induced by hexachlorobenzene in female Wistar rats (170-190 g, N = 8/group), and the relationship with hepatic damage. Twenty-five percent of the animals receiving ethanol increased up to 14-, 25-, and 4.5-fold the urinary excretion of delta-aminolevulinate, porphobilinogen, and porphyrins, respectively. Ethanol exacerbated the precursor excretions elicited by hexachlorobenzene. Hepatic porphyrin levels increased by hexachlorobenzene treatment, while this parameter only increased (up to 90-fold) in some of the animals that received ethanol alone. Ethanol reduced the activities of uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase, delta-aminolevulinate dehydrase and ferrochelatase. In the ethanol group, many of the animals showed a 30 percent decrease in uroporphyrinogen activity; in the ethanol + hexachlorobenzene group, this decrease occurred before the one caused by hexachlorobenzene alone. Ethanol exacerbated the effects of hexachlorobenzene, among others, on the rate-limiting enzyme delta-aminolevulinate synthetase. The plasma activities of enzymes that are markers of hepatic damage were similar in all drug-treated groups. These results indicate that 1) ethanol exacerbates the biochemical manifestation of sporadic hexachlorobenzene-induced porphyria cutanea tarda; 2) ethanol per se affects several enzymatic and excretion parameters of the heme metabolic pathway; 3) since not all the animals were affected to the same extent, ethanol seems to be a porphyrinogenic agent only when there is a predisposition, and 4) hepatic damage showed no correlation with the development of porphyria cutanea tarda

Efecto de la tioctamina frente a la acción del hexaclorobenceno / Effect of the thioctamide in relation the hexachlorobenzene action

Se estudió el efecto de la intoxicación crónica con hexaclorobenceno en ratas, con y sin administración simultánea de tioctamida. En el grupo que recibió hexaclorobenceno solo, se produjo el esperado desarrollo de porfiria incrementándose la excreción urinaria y el contenido hepático de porfirinas y disminuyendo la actividad Uroporfirinógeno decarboxilasa. El contenido hepático de dienos conjugados no varió, en tanto que el de malondialdehido se incrementó en un grado estadísticamente no significativo. Estos resultados indicarían la existencia de un ligero proceso de peroxidación lipídica. La tioctamida (25 mg/Kg de peso) produjo efectos nocivos antes que protectores, detectados por un aumento de la actividad transaminasa glutámico pirúvica y una inhibición a nivel de la primera etapa de la Uroporfirinógeno decarboxilasa. Los resultados indicarían que: 1) altas dosis de tioctamida producen un decremento en la actividad Uroporfirinógeno decarboxilasa, enmascarando quizás su posible efecto protector frente a la acción del hexaclorobenceno por radicales libres; 2) la Uroporfirinógeno decarboxilasa es un parámetro más sensible que la medición de dienos conjugados o de melondialdehido para ensayar la producción de radicales libres por acción del hexaclorobenceno in vivo. De ser así, la tioctamida, ensayada a dosis menores y no tóxicas, a través de su habilidad como atrapante de radicales libres, quizás pueda proteger contra la acción del hexaclorobenceno.

Precancerous pathology evoked by hexachlorobenzene treatment

The porphyrinogenic and carcinogenic ability of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) was assayed in male and female gold hamsters, and histological examinations of tissue alteraions were performed. So it was studied, in liver: a) prophyrin content which was significantly increased at five months of HCB treatment, specially in males, and the pattern of accumalated porphyrins which was altered independent of the sex, b) haem pathway enzymes: delta aminolaevulinicacid synthase, ferrochelatase and porphyrinogen carboxylyase (PCL); among which only PCL appeared to be altered just at ten months of HCB feeding. While thyroid gland and kidney remained unaltered along the treatment time, liver and spleen exhibited a noticeable size variation and morphological alterations. In fact the spleen in treated animals was hypotrophic showing a red pulp less developed with respect to the Malpighian corpuscles and many macrophages with iron deposits. Respect to the liver, enlargement in size of hepatocytes, high content of iron deposits, no PAS positive structures in the cytoplasm, several small lipid droplets, microsteatosis although no cytonecrosis, polymorphic nuclei, and proliferations of nucleoli were observed. Therefore HCB is able to cause precancerous pathology and to induce porphyria in hamster, but not hyperthyroidism, upon this experimental conditions. By the way, males were found to be a good experimental model, better than females, to study the earliest relations between porphyria and cancer.

Erythrocyte uroporphyrinogen I synthase in rats treated with the hepatic carcinogen diethylnitrosamine

Se midió la actividad de Uroporfirinógeno I sintasa (URO-S) en eritrocitos de ratas hembras y machos que habían recibido dietilnitrosamina (DENA) como inductor de tumores hepáticos. Veintidós semanas después de la última dosis del carcinógeno, las ratas mostraron incrementos estadísticamente, significativos en la actividad de URO-S. No se encontraron diferencias en el peso de los animales, en el contenido de porfirinas eritrocitarias ni en el hematocrito entre las ratas tratadas y los animales control. Se observó que el cincuenta por ciento de las ratas hembras y el treinta por ciento de las ratas machos tratadas con DENA habían desarrollado tumores hepáticos pero no hubo correlación, ni en machos ni en hembras, entre la actividad de URO-S y el desarrollo tumoral a pesar del incremento obtenido en los animales tratados con DENA en la actividad de esta enzima

Ability of several hexachlorobenzene metabolites to induce porphyrin accumulation in chick embryo liver [quot ]in ovo[quot ]

The present study investigates the ability of several hexachlorobenzene (HCB) metabolites to induce porphyrin accumulation in chick embryo liver cells in ovo, in order to further clarify the role of metabolites in the mechanism of HCB-induced porphyria. HCB per se had no effect on liver porphyrin content, but pretreatment assays with phenobarbital suggested that its metabolic products did. When the direct effect of phenolic, sulfur-containing, and benzenic metabolites of HCB were tested, the following results were obtained. Less chlorinated benzenes (pentachlorobenzene and 1,2,3,4- 1,2,3,5- 1,2,4,5- tetrachlorobenzene) had poor capacity to change the control porphyrin content. On the other hand, the behavior of phenolic metabolites (pentachlorophenol, 2,3,4,5- 2,3,4,6- 2,3,5,6- tetrachlorophenol, 2,3,4- 2,3,5- 2,3,6- 2,4,5- 2,4,6- 3,4,5- trichlorophenol and tetrachlorohydroquinone) as porphyrin inducers was remarkable; the stronger effects were produced by trichlorophenols and tetrachlorohydroquinone. Sulfur containing metabolites produced increases in porphyrin content that were lower than those produced by phenolic compounds and higher than those due to the action of less chlorinated benzenes; only 1-methyl-(2,3,4,5-pentachlorophenyl) sulfoxide was not able to increase porphyrin level. The extent of the effect of the other drugs was pentachlorothiophenol greater than 1-methyl-(2,3,4,5,6-pentachlorophenyl) sulfone greater than tetrachlorothioanisol greater than pentachlorothioanisol. Regarding the mechanism of HCB porphyria, the present results indicate that phenolic metabolites and, in a lower degree, sulfur-containing metabolites, can contribute to the porphyrinogenic ability of HCB.

Porfiria experimental por hidrocarburos clorados. Estudios sobre la porfirinogeno carboxi-liase en el modelo experimental de la porfiria cutanea tarda humana. / Experimental porphyria induced by chlorinated hydrocarbons.Studies of porphyrinogen carboxy-lyase in the experimental model of human cutaneous delayed porphyria

La porfirinogeno carboxi-liase (PCL) esta severamente disminuida por accion del hexaclorobenceno (HCB) y otros hidrocarburos policlorados, que reproducen en animales una porfiria semejante a la porfiria cutanea tarda humana. El presente trabajo tiene por objeto establecer si la fuerte disminucion de la PCL observada en ratas porfiricas por HCB se debe a la presencia de algun inhibidor o a la modificacion de la estructura proteica de la enzima. Los primeros intentos realizados, que consistieron en ensayos cruzados y de calentamiento y en ensayos in vitro con hidrocarburos clorados y otros compuestos relacionados, permitieron detectar la presencia en el higado de los animales porfiricos de un inhibidor termoestable o parcialmente termoestable, de la PCL normal. Paralelamente se purifico la enzima proveniente de ratas normales e intoxicadas con HCB, con el objeto de analizar una serie de propiedades y de ellas deducir si la diferencia en actividad se debe a diferencias a nivel estructural. Con los metodos empleados hasta el momento se logro una purificacion de aproximadamente 110 veces. El efecto de dietilditiocarbamato de sodio, pirofosfato de sodio, ditiotreitol, temperatura pH, v 02 el comportamiento cromatografico y el PM, indicarian que pueden existir dichas diferencias estructurales