Glutathione-conjugated arsenics in the potential hepato-enteric circulation in rats

The metabolic pathways for arsenic were precisely studied by determining the metabolic balance and chemical species of arsenic to gain an insight into the mechanisms underlying the animal species difference in the metabolism and preferential accumulation of arsenic in red blood cells (RBCs) in rats. Male Wistar rats were injected intravenously with a single dose of arsenite (iAs(III)) at 2.0 mg of As/kg of body weight, and then the time-dependent changes in the concentrations of arsenic in organs and body fluids were determined. Furthermore, arsenic in the bile was analyzed on anion and cation exchange columns by high-performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled argon plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP MS). The metabolic balance and speciation studies revealed that arsenic is potentially transferred to the hepato-enteric circulation through excretion from the liver in a form conjugated with glutathione (GSH). iAs(III) is methylated to mono (MMA)- and dimethylated (DMA) arsenics in the liver during circulation in the conjugated form [iAs(III)(GS)(3)], and a part of MMA is excreted into the bile in the forms of MMA(III) and MMA(V), the former being mostly in the conjugated form [CH(3)As(III)(GS)(2)], and the latter being in the nonconjugated free form. DMA(III) and DMA(V) were not detected in the bile. In the urine, arsenic was detected in the forms of iAs(III), arsenate, MMA(V), and DMA(V), iAs(III) being the major arsenic in the first 6-h-urine, and DMA(V) being increased in the second 6-h-urine. The present metabolic balance and speciation study suggests that iAs(III) is methylated in the liver during its hepato-enteric circulation through the formation of the GSH-cojugated form [iAs(III)(GS)(3)], and MMA(III) and MMA(V) are partly excreted into the bile, the former being in the conjugated form [CH(3)As(III)(GS)(2)]. DMA is not excreted into the bile but into the bloodstream, accumulating in RBCs, and then excreted into the urine mostly in the form of DMA(V) in rats.