Effects of inhalation and cutaneous exposure to styrene on drug metabolizing enzymes in the rat.

The effects of inhalation and cutaneous exposure to styrene on the drug metabolizing enzymes were studied in the rat. Rats were exposed eight hours per day, for seven successive days to 450 ppm concentration of styrene or received one cutaneous dose of styrene daily for seven consecutive days (0.5 and 3.0 g/kg). The animals were killed one day after the last dose. Styrene inhalation increased the activities of epoxide hydrase and UDPglucuronosyltransferase (4-methylumbelliferone as substrate) in liver (1.5- and 1.7-fold, respectively). Ethoxycoumarin deethylation was enhanced 1.7-fold in the kidney. The content of cytochrome P-450 in the liver and the activities of NADPH cytochrome c-reductase, benzpyrene hydroxylase and glutathione S-transferase in the liver and kidney were not altered. No changes in the enzyme activities were detected in the lung. Styrene depressed the epoxide hydrase activity in liver when administered cutaneously. No signs of enzyme induction could be seen after cutaneous administration.