Fibrogenic structure-activity study of the bleomycin molecule.

In the present study the fibrogenic potential of intact bleomycins as well as their acetyldipeptide and terminal polyamine constituents have been assessed. Administration of Blenoxane, bleomycin A2, or bleomycin B2 to rats produced histopathologic evidence of pulmonary fibrosis when tissues were examined 28 days following a single intratracheal dose. These compounds also produced a readily detectable increase in pulmonary collagen synthesis as evidenced by an approximate twofold increase over control values in the formation of [3H]hydroxyproline in an in vitro lung mince system. Lung collagen synthetic activity remained significantly elevated over control values for up to 2 weeks. However, neither the acetyldipeptides nor the polyamine constituents of bleomycin A2 and B2 produced detectable increases in lung collagen synthesis or in histopathologic evidence of pulmonary injury. Spermine and spermidine, the terminal amine components associated with bleomycin-A6 and with tallysomycin A, tallysomycin B, and bleomycin-A5, respectively, did produce significant pulmonary fibrotic injury in rats following intratracheal administration. Out of an extensive series of polyamines, bleomycin acetyldipeptides and intact bleomycin and tallysomycin analogs, only spermine and spermidine were found to produce hydrogen peroxide and acrolein upon incubation in vitro with amine oxidase, a common pulmonary enzyme. Conclusions regarding the relative toxicity of different bleomycin analogs based solely on the toxicity produced by administration of their terminal amine constituent must therefore be made with caution.