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Biomedical subjects

F Korte

Publications and source records attributed to F Korte.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Effects of short-term inhalation exposure to 1-nitropropane and 2-nitropropane on rat liver enzymes.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to vapors of 1-nitropropane (1-NP) and 2-nitropropane (2-NP) at air concentrations of 100 ppm for 7 hours per day on four consecutive days. Livers were analyzed for enzymatic activities after 1-, 2-, and 4-day inhalation periods. Liver microsomal cytochrome P450 was depressed by 2-NP and elevated following exposure to 1-NP. Levels of cytochrome b5 were slightly increased in rats exposed to 1-NP and remained unchanged after inhalation of 2-NP. Total glutathione (GSH), GSH S-transferase, and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase activities were enhanced by 2-NP. 1-NP induced GSH peroxidase while 2-NP did not. Glutathione reductase was not altered after exposure to either isomer. No changes in the microsomal malondialdehyde content as a measure of lipid peroxidation and in the levels of serum aspartate transferase and serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase were observed during a 4-day exposure period in either of the exposed groups compared to control animals.

Animals

QSAR for organic chemical bioconcentration in Daphnia, algae, and mussels.

Prediction of the bioconcentration of organic chemicals from water by aquatic organisms has important applications in the management of hazardous chemicals. This study gives a compilation of bioconcentration factors on a wet weight basis (BCFw) of 52 organic chemicals by Daphnia magna from aqueous solution. The bioconcentration factors for the chemicals in Daphnia were successfully correlated with their n-octanol/water partition coefficients (log Kow) using a linear regression analysis. In addition to the ordinary least-square regression technique, the geometric mean regression technique is also used because this takes into account deviations in Kow values. Both results show that the Kow value of a chemical is a good predictor of the BCF in Daphnia. The BCF-Kow relationships between Daphnia, algae (Chlorella), and mussels (Mytilus edulis) are compared with each other.

Animals

Correlation between acute toxicity of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and total body fat content in mammals.

Single oral 30-day LD50s of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) were correlated with total body fat (TBF) content in various species and strains of laboratory mammals. LD50 values and TBF contents were either obtained from the literature or determined by experiments. A log (LD50) vs. log (TBF) plot yielded a highly significant linear regression equation (r2 = 0.834, P less than 0.001, n = 20). It is suggested that this correlation exists for at least two reasons: (1) increasing TBF content in organisms represents an enhanced capacity to remove TCDD from the systemic circulation and (2) different TBF content reflects a differential role and regulation of fat metabolism for various organisms. Extrapolation of this correlation to man suggests that adult humans are among the less sensitive species to the acute toxicity of TCDD.

Adipose Tissue

Kinetics of the uptake of 14C-labeled chlorinated benzenes from soil by plants.

[14C]Benzene, [14C]1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, [14C]pentachlorobenzene, and [14C]hexachlorobenzene were applied to soils in outdoor lysimeters to a 10-cm depth (2 mg/kg dry soil); barley and cress plants were grown for one vegetation period and analyzed after varying time intervals. The bioaccumulation factors (concentration of radioactive substances in plants divided by that in soils) of barley were higher than those of cress, except for hexachlorobenzene. In barley, bioaccumulation factors increased with decreasing chlorine content of the molecules, except for benzene, whereas in cress hexachlorobenzene exhibited the highest bioaccumulation factor. The conversion ratios of chlorinated benzenes (percentage of conversion products based on total radioactivity in plants) were negatively correlated to the chlorine content of the molecules and, in barley, positively correlated with time; in general, they were higher in barley than in cress. The concentration of radioactive substances in the plants, as well as bioaccumulation factors, decreased with time, except for a slight increase in benzene-derived residues in barley after 125 days. This effect is due to growth dilution. The percentage of radioactivity in barley seeds, based on that in the whole plant, was negatively correlated to the chlorine content of the molecule.

Benzene Derivatives

Disposition and metabolism of 1-nitropropane in rats and chimpanzees.

The metabolic fate of 1-nitropropane (1-NP) has not been previously reported. In this study male rats and chimpanzees were given single doses of 40 mg/kg ip and 5 mg/kg iv 1-[1-14C]NP, respectively. The quantitative extent of urinary and fecal elimination was similar in both species. The rats excreted 16.5% of the dose in urine and 1.7% in feces. For chimpanzees the respective values were 14.8 and 1.2%. Experiments with rats demonstrated that the major route of elimination was by exhalation. With a total elimination via the lungs of 72.6%, rats expired 10.3% of the dose as unchanged 1-NP. Five polar metabolites were isolated from the urine of chimpanzees. The two major metabolites were identified as 3-hydroxypropionic acid and N-methyl-N-2-(methylsulfinyl)ethylpropionic acid amide (NMPA). Both substances were also excreted in rat urine. The two identified metabolites indicate that 1-NP was degraded to propionic acid, part of which was modified to 3-hydroxypropionic acid or NMPA. A hypothetical pathway for the biochemical generation of NMPA is suggested.

Alkanes

Comparison of methods to test chemicals for side effects on soil microorganisms.

The effects of the test chemicals pentachlorophenol (PCP) and HgCl2 on the bioactivity of microorganisms in three different soils were studied in low and high concentrations (2 and 20 ppm). Bioactivity was measured in long-term experiments (18 weeks) by a threefold application of chemicals to soils of varying moisture content. The selected tests were measurements of ATP, of heat output under aerobic and anaerobic conditions and after amendment with glucose, of soil respiration after the addition of glucose, and Fe(III) reduction. The suitability of each test depends on soil microorganisms, on environmental conditions, and on soil properties. The effects caused by the chemicals were as follows. For the low concentration, stimulation or inhibition were mostly repaired within the observation period. The high concentration mostly induced inhibitions which increased or decreased as a consequence of the repeated application of the chemicals. The effects of chemicals were strongly modified by the soil types: in a soil with high organic matter content, differences to the control were lower than in soils with lower organic matter content. These experiments also indicate that measurement of only one physiological parameter is not sufficient to characterize chemicals ecotoxicologically.

Carbon Dioxide

Bioconcentration potential of organic environmental chemicals in humans.

A list of environmental chemicals detectable in adipose tissue and/or milk of non-occupationally exposed humans is presented. Besides their physiochemical properties (n-octanol/water partition coefficient and water solubility), their acceptable daily intake (ADI) values, production figures, fate in the environment, concentrations in human adipose tissue, and data from total diet studies from market basket investigations are given. Average bioconcentration factors (BCF) of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), DDT, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), dieldrin, hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (alpha-HCH, beta-HCH, gamma-HCH, delta-HCH), pentachlorophenol (PCP), and 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxytoluene (BHT) in human adipose tissue are calculated. The bioconcentration factors (wet wt basis) of these compounds are between 3 and 47 times higher in humans than in rats. The environmental chemicals are divided into three groups in respect to their bioconcentration factors in human adipose tissue: group I, high BCF (greater than 100); group II, medium BCF (10-100); and group III, low BCF (less than 10). The bioconcentration factors are useful for hazard assessment of chemicals to humans.

Adipose Tissue

Review of analytical methods for identification and quantification of cannabis products.

About 100 recently published original papers, reviews, books and other communications concerning cannabis (hashish, marijuana) constituents have been reviewed with the aim of summarizing the status of analytical detection and quantitation. Detailed protocols of standard analytical methods are compared in order to recommend uniform methods for field and forensic samples and also to provide guidance to less experienced analysts in countries where cannabis sativa occurs (T. Maylon.In Big Deal: The Politics of the Illicit Drug Business, the Cannabis Commodity Market, pp. 63-107. Guernsey, London.). Because of its importance, there has been an increasing number of investigations of the chemical, botanical, pharmacological, clinical and sociological aspects of the marijuana (hashish) problem. Since analytical techniques have improved substantially during the last 10 years, many papers have been published containing a variety of methods for detection and quantification of cannabis constituents. Since the analytical situation is becoming increasingly confused and because many of the journals are unavailable in less developed countries, the aim of this paper is to give an overview of existing analytical techniques and to attempt to distinguish practical and effective methods from those which are complex or which provide questionable results.

Cannabinoids

Accumulation of pollutants in fish.

The amount of radioactivity which derived from 14C-labeled pollutants was determined in liver, kidney, intestine, blood, muscle and gills of carp, exposed for 6, 24 and 72 hr to high external concentrations of urea, methanol, atrazine and PCP. The results allowed one to calculate roughly the uptake rate for these compounds. It was low for urea (0.055 micrograms/g per hr), higher for methanol (0.12) and atrazine (0.16) and highest for PCP (1.5). The bioaccumulation factors (BFs) were determined for the different substances and organs. They correlated with the hydrophilic-lipophilic nature of the chemicals. The more lipophilic the substances the more accumulation occurred in the liver. PCP accumulated the most. BF was 300-400 in most tissues except muscle where it was quite low. The BF was 3-4 for atrazine in liver, kidney and intestine, but just 1 in blood, muscle and gills. There is some evidence that the BF for methanol equals 1 in liver, kidney, gills and intestine. It is less than 1 in blood and muscle. Urea was equally distributed in all organs and in the external medium.

Animals

Fate of chloroalkylene-9-14C in carrots, sugar beets, and soil under outdoor conditions.

Immediately after application of chloroalkylene-9-14C to soil (1.32 ppm, based on dry weight of soil in the upper layer of 0 to 10 cm) under outdoor conditions, carrots were sown; in the following year, sugar beets were grown. About 80% of the radioactivity applied volatilized within one vegetation period. Most of the remaining radioactivity was still in the upper soil layer; 0.8% had dispersed to a depth of 40 cm, and 3.3% was taken up by the carrot plants. In the second year, no more decreases of soil residues was observed; uptake by sugar beets was 0.1% of the applied radioactivity. In the first year, the residues in the upper soil layer consisted of 41% unchanged chloroalkylene-9, 19% soluble metabolites, and 40% unextractable residues; the amount of unextractable residues rose to 68% in the second year. The following conversion products were characterized in the soil extracts: a monohydroxylated dichlorobiphenyl, a monomethoxylated dichlorobiphenyl, and two isomeric monohydroxylated, monoisopropylated dichlorobiphenyls; in carrot roots, a monomethoxylated dichlorobiphenyl was detected. Conjugates occurring in the soil yielded, after acid hydrolysis, a monohydroxylated dichlorobiphenyl among other compounds.

Hydrolysis

Mass spectrometry and stability of t-butyldimethylsilylethers of some estrogens and androstanes.

In addition to using radioimmunoassays for the determination of estrogens and other steroids, the possibility of using mass fragmentography for analysis was investigated. t-Butyldimethylsilyl chloride was selected as a reagent for derivatisation because it forms rather stable silylethers. In all the mass-spectra obrained from the steroid derivatives, one pronounced peak suitable for mass fragmentography was always present. Some of the spectra of the investigated estrogens, as well as testosterone, 3 alpha-hydroxy-5 alpha-androstan-17-one and 17 alpha-methyl-17 beta-hydroxy-5 alpha-androstan-3-one are discussed. The stability of various t-butyldimethylsilylethers and the rate of enolization of testosterone and progesterone in the presence of the silylation-agent under different conditions were established.

Androstanes