Cytotoxicity of amino alcohols to rat hepatoma-derived Fa32 cells.

Amino alcohols are used as emulsifying agents in dry-cleaning soaps, wax removers, cosmetics, paints and insecticides. The cytotoxicities of 12 amino alcohols, which differed in chain length, position of the amino and alcohol groups, and the presence of an additional phenyl group, were determined by the neutral red uptake inhibition assay with normally cultured, glutathione-depleted or antioxidant-enriched Fa32 rat hepatoma-derived cells. Glutathione depletion and antioxidant enrichment were achieved by including 50(M L-buthionine-S,R-sulphoximine (BSO) or 100(M (-tocopherol acetate (vitamin E) in the culture medium for 24 hours before and during the assay. The cytotoxicity of the amino alcohols observed after treatment for 24 hours was expressed as the concentration of compound needed to induce a 50% reduction in neutral red uptake (NI50). The observed NI50 values ranged from 3mM to 30mM. The individual stereoisomers and a racemic mixture of 1-amino-2-propanol exhibited similar cytotoxicities (with normally cultured Fa32 cells, and vitamin E- and BSO-treated cultures). Similar NI50 values for D-(+)-2-amino-1-propanol, 3-amino-1-propanol and the L-, D- or DL- forms of 1-amino-2-propanol, indicated that the position of the amino group had little influence on the cytotoxicities of the amino alcohols. In contrast, the position of the hydroxyl group appeared to play an important role for the toxicity of the compound, as indicated by the significantly different NI50 values for 4-amino-1-butanol and 4-amino-2-butanol. An additional phenyl group greatly increased the cytotoxicity of 2-amino-1,3-propanediol. For most of the compounds, cytotoxicity increased when GSH was depleted, and decreased when the cells were enriched with vitamin E. This indicated that most of the tested chemicals interact with GSH, either directly or indirectly, by processes which generate oxygen free-radicals. Decreased toxicity was found for most of the chemicals administered to vitamin E-enriched cells, indicating that reactive oxygen species could be involved in the toxicity of the amino alcohols.

Cystathionine pathway-dependent cytotoxicities of diethyl maleate and diamide in rat and human hepatoma-derived cell cultures.

Glutathione (GSH) plays a role in many toxicologically important metabolic processes. It was previously established that L-buthionine S,R-sulphoximine (BSO), a specific inhibitor of (- glutamylcysteine synthetase, reduces the GSH content more efficiently in rat (Fa32) than in human (HEp-G2) hepatoma-derived cells. We therefore investigated whether the cystathionase inhibitor propargylglycine (PPG) could further decrease the BSO-induced GSH depletion in HEp-G2 cells. The influence of the cystathionine precursors N-acetylmethionine, methionine and homocysteine on the cytotoxicity of diethyl maleate (DEM) and diamide [1,1'-azobis(N,N-dimethylformamide)] was also investigated. PPG reduced the GSH content in both cell lines. A further GSH decrease in HEp-G2 was obtained when using a BSO + PPG combination containing relatively high concentrations of PPG. BSO diminished the toxicity of PPG. Homocysteine was the most efficacious of the tested cystathionine precursors in increasing the GSH content and reducing the cytotoxicity of DEM and diamide in Fa32 and HEp-G2 cells.

Neutral red uptake inhibition in adhered and adhering rat hepatoma-derived Fa32 cells to predict human toxicity.

The cytotoxicity of the MEIC (Multicentre Evaluation of In vitro Cytotoxicity) reference chemicals was investigated by measuring the neutral red uptake inhibition in adhered and adhering rat hepatoma-derived Fa32 cells. The adhered cells were seeded and then treated and the adhering cells were treated simultaneously upon seeding. Five of the 44 test chemicals were twofold more toxic in adhering cells; ethylene glycol was 28-fold more toxic and mercuric chloride was 5.2-fold more toxic than in adhered cells. The cytotoxicity of dithiothreitol was altered in the same way as that of ethylene glycol, probably by interacting with calcium. When the neutral red uptake inhibition was compared with human toxicity, the correlation coefficient for adhering cells was almost identical to that obtained previously in human hepatoma-derived Hep G2 cells and slightly higher for adhered cells. The Hep G2 assay was the best acute in vitro assay for the prediction of human toxicity within the MEIC study. An obviously better correlation was obtained when the strong intoxicant mercuric chloride was withdrawn from the comparison, both for the adhered and the adhering cells. Altogether, the results can be integrated very well with the basal cytotoxicity concept.