Determination of chloroacetanilide herbicide metabolites in water using high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection and high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Analytical methods using high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) and high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS) were developed for the analysis of the following chloroacetanilide herbicide metabolites in water: alachlor ethanesulfonic acid (ESA); alachlor oxanilic acid; acetochlor ESA; acetochlor oxanilic acid; metolachlor ESA; and metolachlor oxanilic acid. Good precision and accuracy were demonstrated for both the HPLC-DAD and HPLC/MS methods in reagent water, surface water, and ground water. The average HPLC-DAD recoveries of the chloroacetanilide herbicide metabolites from water samples spiked at 0.25, 0.5 and 2.0 microg/l ranged from 84 to 112%, with relative standard deviations of 18% or less. The average HPLC/MS recoveries of the metabolites from water samples spiked at 0.05, 0.2 and 2.0 microg/l ranged from 81 to 118%, with relative standard deviations of 20% or less. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) for all metabolites using the HPLC-DAD method was 0.20 microg/l, whereas the LOQ using the HPLC/MS method was at 0.05 microg/l. These metabolite-determination methods are valuable for acquiring information about water quality and the fate and transport of the parent chloroacetanilide herbicides in water.

Use of radioimmunoassay as a screen for antibiotics in confined animal feeding operations and confirmation by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Approximately one-half of the 50,000,000 lb of antibiotics produced in the USA are used in agriculture. Because of the intensive use of antibiotics in the management of confined livestock operations, the potential exists for the transport of these compounds and their metabolites into our nation's water resources. A commercially available radioimmunoassay method, developed as a screen for tetracycline antibiotics in serum, urine, milk, and tissue, was adapted to analyze water samples at a detection level of approximately 1.0 ppb and a semiquantitative analytical range of 1-20 ppb. Liquid waste samples were obtained from 13 hog lagoons in three states and 52 surface- and ground-water samples were obtained primarily from areas associated with intensive swine and poultry production in seven states. These samples were screened for the tetracycline antibiotics by using the modified radioimmunoassay screening method. The radioimmunoassay tests yielded positive results for tetracycline antibiotics in samples from all 13 of the hog lagoons. Dilutions of 10-100-fold of the hog lagoon samples indicated that tetracycline antibiotic concentrations ranged from approximately 5 to several hundred parts per billion in liquid hog lagoon waste. Of the 52 surface- and ground-water samples collected all but two tested negative and these two samples contained tetracycline antibiotic concentrations less than 1 ppb. A new liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry method was used to confirm the radioimmunoassay results in 9 samples and also to identify the tetracycline antibiotics to which the radioimmunoassay test was responding. The new liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry method with online solid-phase extraction and a detection level of 0.5 microg/l confirmed the presence of chlorotetracycline in the hog lagoon samples and in one of the surface-water samples. The concentrations calculated from the radioimmunoassay were a factor of 1-5 times less than those calculated by the liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry concentrations for chlorotetracycline.

Evaluation of the disodium salt of 4,4'-diamino-2,2'-stilbene disulfonic acid for estrogenic activity.

4,4'-Diamino-2,2'-stilbene disulfonic acid (DAS), a key intermediate in the synthesis of dyes and fluorescent whitening agents, has been purported to have weak estrogenic properties based on apparent structural similarity with diethylstibestrol (DES) and unsubstantiated reports of male reproductive dysfunction in an industrial setting. In weanling rats, high doses of DAS (300 mg/kg ip; 1000-3000 mg/kg oral) have been associated with modest increases in the uterus/body weight ratio (Smith & Quinn, 1992). In order to more directly and definitively determine if DAS possesses estrogenic activity, in vitro studies were conducted to establish its relative binding affinity to the human estrogen receptor (ER) in MCF-7 cells, a well-characterized breast cancer cell line. At concentrations approaching its solubility limit (10(-4) M), DAS failed to display [3H]-17beta-estradiol (E2) from the ER. In contrast, DES and E2 demonstrated characteristic competitive binding curves (50% displacement of 3H-E2 at 3.33 x 10(-9) and 1.33 x 10(-8) M, respectively). Parallel in vivo comparisons of DAS (10 or 30 mg/animal) and DES (1 or 3 microgram/animal) were also conducted to assess uterotropic effects. After three daily subcutaneous injections, DAS did not induce uterine weight gain. In contrast, DES consistently and markedly increased uterine weight and induced uterine water imbibition, with the latter effect being absent in DAS-treated rats. Under these experimental conditions, DAS was shown to possess negligible, if any, estrogenic activity, despite apparent structural similarity with known estrogens.

Chronic toxicity/carcinogenicity studies of cocoa powder in rats.

Cocoa powder (CP) was fed at levels of 0.0 (control), 1.5, 3.5 and 5.0% for 104 wk to male and female Sprague-Dawley rats derived from the F3b generation of a multigeneration study using the same CP diets. Initial methylxanthine intake was high in all treatment groups, but steadily declined until wk 26. The high dose level provided a mean methylxanthine intake of approximately 57 mg/kg body weight/day for males and 74 mg/kg body weight/day for females from wk 26 to wk 104 of the study. Compared with controls, the historical trend of methylxanthine-associated growth stimulation was evident in rats consuming diets containing 1.5% CP, while body weight was reduced in rats consuming diets containing 3.5 and 5.0% CP. Survival rates were similar in control and CP-fed rats. No evidence of treatment-related clinical disease or ocular effects was noted. An increased incidence of bilateral testicular atrophy and aspermatogenesis was present in males consuming diets containing 5.0% CP. Non-suppurative myocarditis and interstitial fibrosis of the heart were also increased in incidence in both sexes receiving diets containing 5.0% CP. The overall incidences of both pelvic dilatation and renal pelvic microcalculi were increased in most treatment groups. Although there was no difference in the incidence of benign mammary gland fibroadenomas in female rats between the control group and any CP-fed group, a marginally significant (P = 0.04) trend test was apparent. The significance of this finding is doubtful, since the incidence of this lesion in the highest dose group was well within the historical control range for this strain of rats. No evidence of carcinogenicity from dietary CP was found in either sex.

Three-generation reproductive study of cocoa powder in rats.

Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were continuously exposed to dietary cocoa powder at levels of 0.0, 1.5, 3.5 or 5.0% for three generations. During the initial 12-wk growth periods for the F0-, F1b- and F2b-generation rats, mean methylxanthine exposures (mg/kg/day) for males/females were 30/36, 72/86 and 104/126 for the 1.5, 3.5 and 5.0% cocoa powder groups, respectively. No consistent dose-related effects on any of the monitored reproductive indices (mating, fertility, conception, gestation, viability or lactation) were noted over three generations. Minor reductions in mean body weight relative to controls at wk 12 were observed in male rats exposed to 3.5 or 5.0% cocoa powder and female rats exposed to 5.0% cocoa powder in the F1b and F2b generations. Renal tubular mineralization in the F0-generation male rats in the 5.0% cocoa powder group was the only statistically elevated histomorphological lesion observed. Plasma cholesterol concentrations in F1b-generation rats were elevated, but cocoa powder did not affect this parameter consistently across multiple generations. Thus, continuous cocoa powder consumption by rats at levels as high as 5.0% of the diet was without effect on reproductive capacity under the conditions of a standard three-generation evaluation.

Coinduction of multiple hepatic cytochrome P-450 proteins and their mRNAs in rats treated with imidazole antimycotic agents.

To characterize the molecular basis by which imidazole antimycotic drugs increase cytochrome P-450, we examined the effects of treating female rats with clotrimazole, miconazole, or ketoconazole on expression of the major inducible forms of hepatic cytochromes P-450 (P-450p, P-450b/e, P-450c/d, and P-450j). From measurements of the content of immunoreactive cytochromes P-450 in liver microsomes and of the amounts of liver RNA hybridizing to cloned P-450 cDNAs, we established that the glucocorticoid-responsive P-450p is the form predominantly induced by clotrimazole, miconazole, and ketoconazole, to as much as 382 times above control values. The phenobarbital-responsive cytochromes P-450b/e were also induced strongly by clotrimazole and miconazole, but not by ketoconazole. Aromatic hydrocarbon-inducible cytochromes P-450c/d were modestly elevated by each of these three antifungal drugs whereas ethanol-responsive P-450j was marginally induced by ketoconazole, but not by clotrimazole or miconazole. In some, but not all cases, treatment of rats with antifungal drugs resulted in accumulation of P-450 protein that significantly exceeded the increase in the corresponding P-450 mRNA. In conclusion, imidazole antifungal drugs differentially modulate the expression of at least four distinct gene subfamilies of rat hepatic cytochrome P-450 by separate mechanisms involving accumulation of P-450 mRNA and protein.

Immunochemical evidence for multiple steroid-inducible hepatic cytochromes P-450 in the rat.

It has been established that there are glucocorticoid-inducible hepatic cytochromes P-450 in the rat (P-450p), the rabbit (LM3c) and man (HLp) which share extensive structural, functional and regulatory features. We prepared immunochemical probes to P-450p and identified a unique monoclonal antibody, 1G8, that recognizes purified P-450p, but neither purified LM3c nor HLp, on immunoblot analysis. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of purified samples of P-450p was identical with that previously reported for P-450PCN1 [Gonzalez, Nebert, Hardwick & Kasper (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 7435-7441]. Immunoblot analyses of liver microsomes from untreated male rats revealed two 1G8-reactive proteins, whereas liver microsomes from untreated females contained none. Another monoclonal antibody, 13-7-10, reacted specifically with LM3c and HLp, but not with P-450p. A single 13-7-10-reactive microsomal protein was detected in untreated male and female rats, the latter protein exhibiting a greater apparent Mr. 1G8-reactive proteins were induced to the greatest extent by triacetyloleandomycin, followed by dexamethasone, chlordane, pregnenolone-16 alpha-carbonitrile and 2,4,2',4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl. In contrast, 13-7-10-reactive proteins were most strongly induced by dexamethasone, only moderately by triacetyloleandomycin and pregnenolone-16 alpha-carbonitrile, weakly by chlordane and not at all by 2,4,2',4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl. We conclude that the P-450p family in rat liver consists of three or more proteins that are structurally related and yet appear to be under distinct regulatory control.