Gastrointestinal uptake and vascular transport of 2,4'-dichlorobiphenyl

Absorption from the gastrointestinal tract and subsequent vascular transport of [3H]-2,4'-dichlorobiphenyl (Aroclor 1232; DCB) was investigated in an ovine model system. Rapid uptake of DCB and transport as a component of blood plasma without prior occurrence in thoracic duct lymph indicates that DCB was absorbed directly via the gastric mucosa with water soluble compounds. [3H]-DCB did not circulate associated with plasma lipid fractions in vivo, and did not bind to or sequester within plasma lipids in vitro. HPLC analysis of plasma fractions treated in vitro showed DCB to elute within a molecular weight range consistent with unbound product. Further, [3H]-DCB-derived label was associated with low molecular weight plasma components in vivo. Essentially the same elution profile was seen for [3H]-DCB-derived label found in urine. Metabolism of DCB as a function of time resulted in the apparent formation of a biotransformed product(s) that circulated with a plasma fraction(s) at the low end of the albumin molecular size range. These data suggest that DCB was not absorbed and transported in a manner typical of polychlorinated biphenyls with a higher chlorine content; rather, that it was absorbed, transported within the vascular system, and excreted in a pattern typical of a water soluble compound.