Alterations in the heme biosynthetic pathway as an index of exposure to toxins

Under normal circumstances the heme biosynthetic pathway is carefully controlled and porphyrins are formed in only trace amounts. When control mechanisms are disturbed by xenobiotics, porphyrins may be formed and serve as a signal of the interaction between a xenobiotic and the heme biosynthetic pathway. For example, porphyrinuria was an early manifestation of a hexachlorobenzene-induced porphyria outbreak in Turkey. In humans exposed to polybrominated biphenyls and to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin the urinary porphyrin pattern was significantly different from normal in a large number of exposed individuals. The question is raised whether measurement of urinary porphyrin profiles by improved methods will enable an estimate to be made of the extent of exposure to haloaromatic hydrocarbons in the human population. A wide variety of xenobiotics interact with the prosthetic heme of cytochrome P-450 forming novel N-alkylporphyrins. Identification of these N-alkylporphyrins in body fluids might provide a means of assessing exposure to a variety of xenobiotics in human populations.