Irreversible binding of chlorinated ethylenes to macromolecules

Rats have been exposed in a closed system to the chlorinated ethylenes vinyl chloride and trichloroethylene and to carbon tetrachloride as a reference compound. Data of uptake of the compounds, of urinary excretion of metabolites, and of exhalation after exposure show that the chlorinated ethylenes are metabolized much faster than carbon tetrachloride, probably due to their common ethylene structure. To eliminate differences in uptake, calculation of metabolites of the three compounds in tissues was based on the amount actually taken up by the animals. Vinyl chloride, trichloroethylene, and carbon tetrachloride showed irreversible binding of metabolites to tissue proteins, mainly of the liver. Irreversible protein binding of either of these compounds ranged within the same order of magnitude, if related to the amount of compound which had been taken up. Also, no differences in the relative portion of irreversibly bound metabolites were found after exposure to different atmospheric concentrations of the three compounds. As already shown for vinyl chloride, trichloroethylene is metabolized in vitro by rat liver microsomes in presence of NADPH-regenerating system to intermediates that irreversibly bind to proteins. Albumin (bovine and rabbit) was a preferred target for binding. In contrast to vinyl chloride, significant irreversible binding of trichloroethylene metabolites also occurred to non-SH-proteins (gamma-globulin, concanavalin A) and to polylysine. Hence it should be inferred that, unlike vinyl chloride, trichloroethylene metabolites not only bind to sulfhydryl groups but also, to a lesser extent, to free amino groups of proteins.