A very sensitive gas chromatographic method for the evaluation of styrene oxidase and styrene oxide hydratase activities.

Styrene is a compound widely used in the manufacture of polystyrenic plastics and it has recently been shown to exert mutagenic effects after metabolic activation into styrene oxide by the microsomal mixed function oxidases; this oxide is further converted into inactive styrene glycol. In order to investigate the relative importance of activation and desactivation processes of styrene, we developed a gas chromatographic method which enables us to simultaneously measure styrene oxide and styrene glycol formed after incubation of styrene with microsomal preparations from different tissues. After selective extraction of the two compounds from the incubation mixture, they are derivatized with pentafluorobenzoyl chloride and measured by gas chromatography using an electron capture detector. The high sensitivity of the method, which allows 0.01 ng of both compounds to be measured, as well as its selectiveity, has permitted us to adequately evaluate the kinetic parameters of styrene oxidase and styrene oxide hydratase activities, as well as their modifications under the influence of various pretreatments of the animals.