Aflatoxin B1 binding to plasma albumin and liver DNA upon chronic administration to rats

The hepatocarcinogen aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) was administered to male Wistar rats by oral intubation in either single or repeated doses and the binding to plasma protein and liver DNA determined. Twenty-four hours after a single dose (3.5-200 micrograms/kg AFB1) a constant ratio was found between levels of aflatoxin bound to plasma protein and that bound to liver DNA. In total 0.98-2.15% of the administered dose was bound to the plasma protein at this time point. In the chronic study rats received two doses of 0.5 microgram AFB1/day and groups of animals were killed on days 2, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 24. Binding of aflatoxin to plasma protein accumulated to a level 3-fold higher than that seen after a single dose. Levels of binding reached a plateau between days 7 and 14 of treatment and then remained stable until the end of the experiment. Binding to DNA also accumulated, 2.5-fold and in parallel to plasma protein, binding reached a plateau between days 7 and 14 of treatment. In both the chronic and acute studies fractionation of the plasma proteins by Sephadex G-200 chromatography showed that all detectable bound aflatoxin was associated with a single peak corresponding to albumin. Thus, a constant ratio was observed, after chronic or single exposure, between the concentration of plasma albumin-bound aflatoxin and that bound to DNA of the liver, the target organ for carcinogenesis by AFB1. In order to investigate the proposed role of AFB1 in the aetiology of primary hepatocellular carcinoma in man it would be of great value to have a method for assessing long-term human exposure at an individual level. The relevance of the observations presented in this paper are discussed in the light of such a requirement.