Metabolism and disposition of dimethyl hydrogen phosphite in rats and mice

A study of dimethyl hydrogen phosphite (DMHP) by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) indicated that chronic administration by oral gavage resulted in an increased incidence of neoplastic lesions in the lungs and forestomachs of Fischer 344 rats but not in B6C3F1 mice. The current study was designed to evaluate the metabolic basis, if any, of this species selectivity by studying the metabolism and disposition of [14C]DMHP in the respective strains of rats and mice. Results of this study indicate that DMHP administered at a range of dose of 10-200 mg/kg was readily and near completely absorbed from the gastrointestinal tracts of rats and mice. DMHP-derived radioactivity was eliminated primarily as CO2 in the expired air, 44-57%, and urine, 28-49%, and very little was collected in feces, 1-2%, or as volatile organics, 2-3%. DMHP-derived radioactivity was widely distributed in tissues of rats and mice, with the highest concentrations observed in the liver, kidneys, spleen, lungs, and forestomach, and the lowest in brain, skeletal muscle, and adipose tissue. The disappearance of radioactivity from mouse tissues was approximately twice as rapid as from rat tissues. In vitro, DMHP was metabolized to formaldehyde by the microsomal fractions of liver, lungs, kidneys, forestomach, and glandular stomach. In vivo, DMHP was metabolized to the product of demethylation, monomethyl hydrogen phosphite (MMHP), which was excreted in urine. Results of this study indicate that the NTP carcinogenicity study with DMHP was carried out within the dose range in which the absorption, metabolism, and disposition of DMHP are linear in both species. Apparent species-dependent differences in the metabolism and disposition of DMHP are limited to the more rapid metabolism and elimination by the mouse. Therefore, the species-dependent variations in the carcinogenicity of DMHP are most likely attributable to factors other than metabolism and disposition.