In vivo metabolism of chloroform in B6C3F1 mice determined by the method of gas uptake: the effects of body temperature on tissue partition coefficients and metabolism.

Mice exposed to various chemicals have been shown to respond by decreasing their core body temperature. To examine what effect such a response might have on the determination of in vivo metabolism, core body temperatures of B6C3F1 mice were recorded with temperature telemetry devices during exposure to chloroform (CHCl3) in a closed, recirculating chamber (100 to 5500 ppm). Significant decreases in body temperature occurred in all mice exposed to greater than 100 ppm CHCl3, with the greatest decrease of 14 degrees C occurring at 5500 ppm. A starting CHCl3 concentration of 4000 ppm had no effect on the 7-ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase (ECOD) activity or P450 levels determined at the end of a 5-hr gas uptake exposure. A physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PB-PK) model was developed to describe the effects of decreased body temperature on the analysis of metabolic data. In vitro ECOD activity as a measure of in vivo P450 metabolism was determined for temperatures ranging from 24 to 40 degrees C. In vitro enzyme activity decreased linearly from a maximum at 37 degrees C to one-third of this activity at 24 degrees C. A linear equation describing this enzymatic activity-temperature correlation was incorporated into the PB-PK model structure to describe decreases in metabolic activity resulting from decreases in core body temperature. In vitro blood/air and tissue/air partition coefficients were determined for CHCl3 at temperatures ranging from 24 to 40 degrees C. All blood/air and tissue/air partitions increased with decreasing temperature, while the tissue/blood partition coefficients calculated from the tissue/air and blood/air partitions decreased with decreasing temperature. Adding these temperature corrections to the model greatly improved the overall fit of the gas uptake curves at all concentrations. Incorporation of a first-order metabolic rate constant was also required to provide an adequate representation of the data at high concentrations. The analysis of gas uptake data by the use of a PB-PK computer model is a very powerful technique for determining in vivo metabolism of many volatile compounds, but the incorporation of significant deviations from a generally used model structure (i.e., Ramsey-Andersen model) to account for shortcomings of the model's ability to adequately analyze a gas uptake data set should be based on data collection when possible.