Haemoglobin adducts of aromatic amines in people exposed to cigarette smoke.

In a population-based study in Turin, Italy, smokers of blond tobacco showed 4-aminobiphenyl (4-ABP) adduct levels some three times higher than nonsmoking subjects, and smokers of black tobacco showed levels about five times greater than nonsmokers. A dose-response relationship between the number of cigarettes smoked per day and 4-ABP adduct level was observed, but did not account for the higher adduct levels observed in smokers of black tobacco. Smoking-related increases in haemoglobin adducts were also observed for o-toluidine, p-toluidine, 2,4-dimethylaniline and 2-ethylaniline. Smoking subjects showed 3-aminobiphenyl adduct levels about 12 times greater than those of nonsmokers, who rarely showed a detectable level. This may indicate that there are fewer sources of 3-aminobiphenyl exposure not related to tobacco smoke. Smokers of black tobacco showed higher adduct levels than smokers of blond tobacco for 4-ABP, p-toluidine and 2,4-dimethylaniline.

Three new contaminants detected in postmortem blood samples.

Three contaminants were identified during drug screening of postmortem blood samples which had been stored in glass bottles with a black rubber seal. Two of these contaminants, cyanoethyl dimethyldithiocarbamate and N-phenyl-2-naphthylamine, were found to come from the rubber seal of some bottles. The third contaminant was not a single compound but rather a mixture of aryl phosphates with a composition very similar to technical grade tritolyl phosphate. The origin of these phosphates is at present unknown.

Identification of a thermolysin-like metalloendopeptidase in serum: activity in normal subjects and in patients with sarcoidosis.

A thermolysin-like metalloendopeptidase, optimally active at a neutral pH, was identified in human serum. The enzyme cleaves the synthetic substrate glutaryl-Ala-Ala-Phe-2-naphthylamide at the Ala-Phe bond. Activity was determined by measuring the rate of formation of Phe-2-naphthylamide in a coupled enzyme assay in the presence of excess aminopeptidase M. 2-Naphthylamine released during the reaction was determined by a diazotization procedure. Enzyme activity is not affected by inhibitors of serine, thiol, or carboxyl proteases, but is sensitive to inhibition by metal chelators such as EDTA and o-phenanthroline. Dialysis against EDTA leads to loss of activity, which can be fully restored by zinc and cobalt ions. The serum enzyme closely resembles a membrane-bound metalloendopeptidase (EC 3.4.24.11) abundant in lung, spleen, and kidney in that both enzymes are inhibited by the same active-site-directed inhibitors. In addition, an antiserum obtained against the metalloendopeptidase from rabbit kidney shows strong cross-reactivity with the serum enzyme. Metalloendopeptidase activity was measured in 150 controls and in 95 patients with sarcoidosis; the two groups had significantly different enzyme activities (p less than 0.001). The mean enzyme activity in the sarcoidosis group was more than threefold higher than that of the control group. The mean enzyme activity for patients with active disease was more than double that of patients with inactive disease and more than four times that of controls (p less than 0.001). This is noteworthy because angiotensin converting enzyme, a zinc-dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase with a mechanism of action similar to that of the metalloendopeptidase, has also been reported to be increased in the serum of patients with active sarcoidosis. Enzyme activity in patients with active tuberculosis, primary pulmonary neoplasms, and idiopathic interstitial pulmonary fibrosis did not differ significantly from that of controls.

4-aminobiphenyl, 2-naphthylamine, and analogs: analytical properties and trace analysis in five substrates.

Methods for monitoring trace levels of 4-aminobiphenyl, 2-naphthylamine, and their hydrochloride salts in waste water, microbiological growth media, potable water, human urine, and mouse blood utilizing spectrophotofluorometry (SPF) are described. The salient elements of the methods are extraction of the residues as the free amine with benzene, rapid cleanup on an alumina column, and quantification of the free amine in methanol via SPF. Potable water solutions of the salts are diluted with 0.01 N aqueous HCL and quantified directly by SPF. Ancillary analytical information concerning gas chromatography of the free amines, partitioning properties of the compounds between solvent pairs, their solubility and stability in water, and thin-layer chromatographic data is presented. The compositions of various admixtures of 1- and 2-naphthylamine or their salts were determined by using SPF with calculations based on simultaneous equations.

[Detection of antigens containing benzidine groups in the blood of persons having contact with aniline dyes]. / Opredelenie antigenov, soderzhashchikh gruppirovku benzidina, v krovi u lits, imeiushchikh kintakt s anilinovymi krasiteliami

The paper is concerned with the study of a possibility to record 2-naphtylamine and benzidine in serum and formed blood elements of workers being in contact with dyes, which molecule contain radicals of carcinogens. The Ouchterlony method of precipitation in gel in micromodification and the method of a delay in the precipitation reaction have indicated the presence of benzidine as a haptene in blood serum of 25 among 103 workers and in blood clot extracts in 42 among 116 workers from a textile factory under examination. But 2-naphtylamine was not found in the same subjects.