Formation and accumulation of DNA ethenobases in adult Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to vinyl chloride.

DNA ethenobases are promutagenic lesions formed by carcinogens such as vinyl chloride (VC). Their formation was investigated in 6-week old, male Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to 500 p.p.m. VC by inhalation (4 h/day, 5 days/ week) for 1, 2, 4 or 8 weeks and in 7- and 14-week old, matched control animals. 1,N6-Ethenoadenine (epsilon A) and 3, N4-ethenocytosine (epsilon C) deoxyribonucleotides were analysed by immunoaffinity purification and 32P-postlabelling. This postlabelling method was compared with a radio-immunoassay method, which yielded similar results. Background levels of ethenobases were found in DNA from the liver, lungs, kidneys and circulating lymphocytes of unexposed, control rats. In the liver, the following background molar ratios of ethenobase to parent base in DNA were detected (mean values x 10(-8)): epsilon A/A, 0.04-0.05; epsilon C/C, 0.06-0.07. In the lungs, kidneys and circulating lymphocytes, background levels of epsilon A and epsilon C ranged from 1.7 to 4.2 x 10(-8) and from 4.8 to 11.2 x 10(-8), respectively. Following a 5-day exposure to VC, a significant increase of epsilon A and epsilon C was measured in hepatic DNA from rats sacrificed immediately after treatment. Further, a dose-dependent increase of both etheno adducts was observed in liver DNA of VC-treated rats. Compared to the 5-day exposure, approximately 4-fold higher levels of epsilon A and epsilon C were observed in the liver of animals after 8 weeks of exposure. In contrast, there was an accumulation of epsilon C but not of epsilon A in lungs and kidneys. In circulating lymphocytes, no significant increase of ethenobase levels above control values was observed after 2 months of exposure to VC. Both etheno adducts were found to be persistent in liver DNA, after 2 months following the termination of VC exposure. These results further support the notion that DNA etheno-bases are critical lesions in VC-induced carcinogenesis. The possible contribution of lipid peroxidation products that also yield ethenobases, on the formation and persistence of these DNA adducts, remains to be clarified.