Uroporphyria development in cultured chick embryo fibroblasts long-term treated with chloramphenicol and ethidium...

Long-term chloramphenicol- and ethidium bromide-treated chick embryo fibroblasts synthesize large amounts of porphyrins from exogenously added delta-aminolevulinic acid. The porphyrins consist mainly of uro- and heptacarboxyporphyrins and are retained within cells. Uroporphyria development is a time-dependent process which accompanies a step-wise decrease in the capacity of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Upon removal of chloramphenicol from the medium, the pattern of porphyrin production readily returns to normal (mainly proto- and coproporphyrins found in the medium) while ethidium bromide-treated cells remain uroporphyric. The results suggest that impairment of mitochondrial functions in chicken by xenobiotics leads to uroporphyria development.