Institut für Pharmakologie und Toxikologie
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DNA binding in vivo: (6,7-\(^3\)H]ß-trenbolone (ß-TBOH) was administered p.o. and i.p. to rats. After 8 or 16 h, DNA was isolated from the livers and purified to constant specific radioactivity. Enzymatic digestion to deoxyribonucleotides and separation by HPLC revealed about 90% ofthe DNA radioactivity eluting in the form of possible TBOH-nucleotide adducts. The extent of this genotoxicity, expressed in units of the Covalent Binding Index, CBI = (~mol TBOH bound per mol nucleotide)/(mmol TBOH administered per kg body weight) spanned from 8 t~ 17, i. e. was in the range found with weak genotoxic carcmogens. Ames test: low doses of ß-TBOH increased the number of revertants in Salmonella strain TAl 00 reproducibly and m a dose-dependent manner. The mutagenic potency was 0.2 revertants per nmol after preincubation of the bacteria (20 min at 37° C) with doses between 30 and 60 \(\mu\)g per plate (47 and 94 \(\mu\)g/ml preincubation mixture). Above this dose, the number of revertants decreased to control values, accompanied by a reduction in survival. The addition of rat liver S9 inhibited the mutagenicity. DNA binding in vitro: calf thymus DNA was incubated with tritiated ß-TBOH with and without rat liver S9 Highest DNA radioactivities were determined in the absence of the "activation" system. Addition of inactive S9 (without cofactors) reduced the DNA binding by a factor of up to 20. Intermediate results were found with active S9. DNA binding in Salmonella: ß-TBOH was irreversibly bound to DNA isolated from S. typhimurium TA100 after incubation of bacteria with [\(^3\)H]ß-TBOH. Conclusions: Covalent DNA binding appears to be the mechanism of an activation-independent ("direct") mutagenicity of TBOH which is not easily detected because of the bactericidal activity. The genotoxicity risk arising from exposure of humans to trenbolone residues in meat was estimated using the in vivo data and compared to that from the exposure to unavoidable genotoxins aflatoxin B1 and dimethylnitrosamine. It ts concluded that trenbolone residues represent only a low genotoxic risk.
Aims
Chronic heart failure (CHF) can be caused by autoantibodies stimulating the heart via binding to first and/or second extracellular loops of cardiac β1-adrenoceptors. Allosteric receptor activation depends on conformational features of the autoantibody binding site. Elucidating these features will pave the way for the development of specific diagnostics and therapeutics. Our aim was (i) to fine-map the conformational epitope within the second extracellular loop of the human β\(_1\)-adrenoceptor (β1ECII) that is targeted by stimulating β\(_1\)-receptor (auto)antibodies and (ii) to generate competitive cyclopeptide inhibitors of allosteric receptor activation, which faithfully conserve the conformational auto-epitope.
Methods and results
Non-conserved amino acids within the β\(_1\)EC\(_{II}\) loop (compared with the amino acids constituting the ECII loop of the β\(_2\)-adrenoceptor) were one by one replaced with alanine; potential intra-loop disulfide bridges were probed by cysteine–serine exchanges. Effects on antibody binding and allosteric receptor activation were assessed (i) by (auto)antibody neutralization using cyclopeptides mimicking β1ECII ± the above replacements, and (ii) by (auto)antibody stimulation of human β\(_1\)-adrenoceptors bearing corresponding point mutations. With the use of stimulating β\(_1\)-receptor (auto)antibodies raised in mice, rats, or rabbits and isolated from exemplary dilated cardiomyopathy patients, our series of experiments unmasked two features of the β\(_1\)EC\(_{II}\) loop essential for (auto)antibody binding and allosteric receptor activation: (i) the NDPK\(^{211–214}\) motif and (ii) the intra-loop disulfide bond C\(^{209}\)↔C\(^{215}\). Of note, aberrant intra-loop disulfide bond C\(^{209}\)↔C\(^{216}\) almost fully disrupted the functional auto-epitope in cyclopeptides.
Conclusions
The conformational auto-epitope targeted by cardio-pathogenic β\(_1\)-receptor autoantibodies is faithfully conserved in cyclopeptide homologues of the β\(_1\)EC\(_{II}\) loop bearing the NDPK\(^{211–214}\) motif and the C\(^{209}\)↔C\(^{215}\) bridge while lacking cysteine C216. Such molecules provide promising tools for novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in β\(_1\)-autoantibodypositive CHF.
Urinary, Circulating, and Tissue Biomonitoring Studies Indicate Widespread Exposure to Bisphenol A
(2012)
Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the highest-volume chemicals produced worldwide, and human exposure to BPA is thought to be ubiquitous. Thus, there are concerns that the amount of BPA to which humans are exposed may cause adverse health effects. We examined many possibilities for why biomonitoring and toxicokinetic studies could come to seemingly conflicting conclusions. More than 80 published human biomonitoring studies that measured BPA concentrations in human tissues, urine, blood, and other fluids, along with two toxicokinetic studies of human BPA metabolism were examined. Unconjugated BPA was routinely detected in blood (in the nanograms per milliliter range), and conjugated BPA was routinely detected in the vast majority of urine samples (also in the nanograms per milliliter range). In stark contrast, toxicokinetic studies proposed that humans are not internally exposed to BPA. Available data from biomonitoring studies clearly indicate that the general population is exposed to BPA and is at risk from internal exposure to unconjugated BPA. The two toxicokinetic studies that suggested human BPA exposure is negligible have significant deficiencies, are directly contradicted by hypothesis-driven studies, and are therefore not reliable for risk assessment purposes.
Prerequisite to any biological laboratory assay employing living animals is consideration about its necessity, feasibility, ethics and the potential harm caused during an experiment. The imperative of these thoughts has led to the formulation of the 3R-principle, which today is a pivotal scientific standard of animal experimentation worldwide. The rising amount of laboratory investigations utilizing living animals throughout the last decades, either for regulatory concerns or for basic science, demands the development of alternative methods in accordance with 3R to help reduce experiments in mammals. This demand has resulted in investigation of additional vertebrate species displaying favourable biological properties. One prominent species among these is the zebrafish (Danio rerio), as these small laboratory ray-finned fish are well established in science today and feature outstanding biological characteristics. In this review, we highlight the advantages and general prerequisites of zebrafish embryos and larvae before free-feeding stages for toxicological testing, with a particular focus on cardio-, neuro, hepato- and nephrotoxicity. Furthermore, we discuss toxicokinetics, current advances in utilizing zebrafish for organ toxicity testing and highlight how advanced laboratory methods (such as automation, advanced imaging and genetic techniques) can refine future toxicological studies in this species.