The effect of vinyl chloride monomer, chloroethylene oxide and chloracetaldehyde on DNA synthesis in regenerating rat liver.

Vinyl chloride monomer used in the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride is a chemical of increasing industrial importance but has recently been incriminated as a carcinogen, producing a mutagenic effect after being metabolized to active metabolites. The initial effect of vinyl chloride monomer and two of its presumed metabolites, chloracetaldehyde and chloroethylene oxide, on DNA synthesis was investigated in vivo in regenerating rat liver. The established control curve for the DNA synthesis rate after partial hepatectomy demonstrated two waves of synthetic activity at 21 and 30 h. Vinyl chloride, injected intravenously immediately on completion of the operation, depressed the first wave of DNA synthesis by 49.6%. The second peak of DNA synthetic activity was similar to that of the control. Chloracetaldehyde and chloroethylene oxide both produced similar effects on the first wave of DNA synthesis after partial hepatectomy, inhibiting the DNA synthesis rate by approx. 50%. After a regenerating period of 27 h, however, they produced very different effects, chloroethylene oxide raising the control DNA synthesis rate at 30 h by 49% while chloracetaldehyde tended to desynchronize the well-defined second peak of the control. The test compounds have been compared to literature reports of the inhibitory effects of various carcinogens on DNA synthesis.