Lipid metabolites of carbon tetrachloride

5 min after intravenous injection into rats of (14)C- or (36)Cl-carbon tetrachloride, liver lipids were found labeled. Most of the radioactivity was found in the phospholipid fraction. The metabolites were shown to comprise a heterogeneous group of branched long-chain chlorinated fatty acids, probably containing the trichloromethyl side chain. Surviving liver slices also formed these metabolites. In a simple chemical system which generates trichloromethyl free radicals, carbon tetrachloride added to methyl oleate to form esters which behaved like the metabolites during counter-current distribution and urea adduction. The evidence strongly suggests the formation of these metabolites by free radical attack on unsaturated lipids. The relation of these observations to current theories of carbon tetrachloride intoxication is discussed.