Metabolism of acrylic acid to carbon dioxide in mouse tissues

Acrylic acid (AA) is acutely irritating at sites of initial contact but causes little systemic toxicity probably due to its rapid metabolism to CO2 and acetyl-CoA via a secondary pathway of propionic acid catabolism. In this study, the rate of AA oxidation in 13 tissues of C3H mice was measured by incubating tissue slices with [1-14C]AA and collecting, 14CO2. Oxidation of AA followed pseudo-Michaelis-Menten kinetics in the liver, kidney, and skin. Pseudo-Km values were similar among these tissues and averaged 0.67 mM. The maximal rate of AA oxidation in kidney, liver, and skin was 2890 +/- 436 (mean +/- SE, N = 3), 616 +/- 62, and 47.9 +/- 5.8 nmol/hr/g, respectively. The remaining organs oxidized AA at rates less than 40% of the rate in liver. Rates of metabolism in tissues from male and female mice were similar. 3-Hydroxypropionic acid was the only metabolite detected by high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis following incubation of tissues with [1-14C]AA. Kidney and liver also oxidized [2,3-14C]AA and [1-14C]acetate well, thus providing for the complete metabolism of AA carbons to CO2. These results demonstrate that the rate of AA metabolism varies significantly among mouse tissues and suggest that the kidneys and liver are major sites of detoxification of AA.