Quinol diglucuronides are predominant conjugated metabolites found in bile of rats following intratracheal instillation of benzo[a]pyrene.

[3H]Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) was administered to male Sprague-Dawley rats via intratracheal instillation, and bile was collected over a period of 6 h. Conjugated metabolites of B[a]P in bile were separated by paper chromatography or reversed-phase ion-pair HPLC and quantified by liquid scintillation spectrometry. In paper chromatographic analysis, a class of conjugates more polar than thioether conjugates was recognized. These conjugates were identified as quinol diglucuronides by hydrolyzing with beta-glucuronidase and analyzing products of the hydrolysis with HPLC, and by migration on paper relative to a standard of 3,6-quinol diglucuronide. From this analysis, relative amounts of conjugated metabolites of B[a]P in bile were 37.3% quinol diglucuronides, 19.9% thioether conjugates, 33.3% monoglucuronide and sulfate conjugates, and 9.4% unconjugated metabolites. Analysis by reversed-phase ion-pair HPLC provided improved resolution among the conjugates in bile. In particular, the 3,6-quinol diglucuronide was resolved from the 1,6- and 6,12-quinol diglucuronides, with identification of peaks being based on sensitivity to hydrolysis with beta-glucuronidase and elution of standards of these diglucuronides. The elution position of thioether conjugates was identified by their insensitivity to hydrolysis with beta-glucuronidase and arylsulfatase and by synthesis of thioether conjugates in V79 (XEM-2) cells, which express cytochrome P450IA1 and have relatively high levels of glutathione S-transferases but low levels of UDP-glucuronyltransferases and sulfotransferases. From the reversed-phase ion-pair HPLC analysis, relative amounts of conjugates in bile were 10.4% 1,6- and 6,12-quinol diglucuronides, 20.8% 3,6-quinol diglucuronide, 30.4% thioether conjugates, 17.8% monoglucuronides, 6.2% sulfate conjugates, and 14.4% unconjugated metabolites. These studies provide the first report of the biosynthesis of quinol diglucuronide conjugates of B[a]P in vivo and demonstrate that they are excreted into bile in significant quantities.