Benzo(a)pyrene metabolism in bovine aortic endothelial and bovine lung fibroblast-like cell cultures.

The metabolism of [3H]benzo(a)pyrene ([3H]BP) in bovine aortic endothelial and bovine lung fibroblast-like cells in vitro was investigated. Both cell types metabolized BP to organic solvent-extractable and water-soluble metabolites. The major organic solvent-extractable metabolites were 9-hydroxy-benzo(a)pyrene and 3-hydroxybenzo(a)pyrene; 7,8-dihydro-7,8-dihydroxybenzo(a)pyrene, 9,10-dihydro-9,10-dihydroxy-benzo(a)pyrene, and BP quinones were also formed. No glucuronide or sulfate conjugates of BP metabolites were detected. When exposed to [3H]-3-hydroxybenzo(a)pyrene, both cell types metabolized this phenol to water-soluble derivatives, probably through oxidation rather than conjugation of the molecule. These results demonstrate that endothelial cells metabolze BP to a proximate carcinogenic derivative, the 7,8-dihydrodiaol. Thus, efforts to predict the biological effects of hydrocarbons of an organism must take into account possible metabolic activation by endothelial cells as well as by other target tissues. The formation of unconjugated, phenolic hydrocarbon derivatives by bovine cells suggests their use as a model system for studying the contribution of phenols to the induction of biological effects by hydrocarbons.