Chlorobutanol: maternal serum levels and placental transfer in the mouse

Chlorobutanol (CB) is a pharmaceutical preservative and the active ingredient in certain sedatives and anesthetics and produces adverse effects in adult tissues and mouse embryos in vitro. Chlorobutanol is slowly eliminated in humans, but little is known about its serum levels in other species or placental transfer in any species. Pregnant mice gavaged with 80 mg CB/kg on gestational day (gd) 9.5 provided serum at 10 min to 36 h post-dosing for a time course study. Additional mice gavaged with 0, 8, 40 or 80 mg CB/kg on gd 9.5 provided maternal serum and embryos 2 h post-dosing for a placental transfer study, and CB levels were measured using capillary gas chromatography with electron capture detection. Dosing with 80 mg CB/kg produced maternal serum levels between 30.8 micrograms/mL (10 min) and < 1 microgram/mL (36 h), with a half-life of 7.45 h. Embryonic CB levels increased with maternal dose and were correlated with maternal serum levels. Serum levels of CB in the mouse appeared to follow a time course similar to humans, with rapid absorption and slow elimination. Placental transfer, as demonstrated here in the mouse, may allow embryonic accumulation of CB to potentially toxic levels.