Conjugation of 1-naphthol by human bronchus and bronchoscopy samples.

Human bronchus, in short-term explant culture, metabolized 1-naphthol to both its sulphate ester and glucuronic acid conjugates. At low concentrations of 1-naphthol (20 microM), more 1-naphthyl sulphate than 1-naphthyl-beta-D-glucuronide was formed. At similar substrate concentrations, short-term explant cultures of both bronchus without cartilage and bronchoscopy samples, which consisted largely of bronchial epithelium, formed predominantly 1-naphthyl-beta-D-glucuronide. Thus cartilage, which alone did not significantly metabolize 1-naphthol, may in some way influence the metabolism of 1-naphthol by intact bronchus. A large inter-individual variation was observed in the conjugation of 1-naphthol by cultured human bronchus. Such variations in the conjugation of chemicals may be of importance in determining individual susceptibility to chemically induced damage.