Oxidation of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde by NAD+-dependent dehydrogenases in rat nasal mucosal homogenates.

Homogenates of respiratory and olfactory tissue from the rat nasal cavity were examined for their capacity to catalyze the NAD+-dependent oxidation of formaldehyde (in the presence and absence of glutathione) and of acetaldehyde. Both aldehydes were oxidized efficiently by nasal mucosal homogenates, and formaldehyde dehydrogenase (FDH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (AldDH) were tentatively identified in both tissue samples. At least two isozymes of AldDH, differing with respect to their apparent Km and Vmax values with acetaldehyde as substrate, were found in the nasal mucosa, one of which may catalyze the oxidation of both formaldehyde and acetaldehyde. The specific activity of FDH in the olfactory mucosa was twice that in the respiratory mucosa, whereas the specific activity of the higher Km isozyme of AldDH was five to eight times greater in respiratory than in olfactory tissue. The specific activity of the lower Km isozyme of AldDH was similar in respiratory and olfactory homogenates. Repeated exposures of rats to formaldehyde (15 ppm, 6 hr/day, 10 days) or to acetaldehyde (1500 ppm, 6hr/day, 5 days) did not substantially affect the specific activities of FDH and AldDH in nasal mucosal homogenates. Glutathione is a cofactor for FDH; the concentration of nonprotein sulfhydryls in respiratory mucosal homogenates was approximately 2.8 mumoles/g and was not changed significantly by repeated exposures to formaldehyde (15 ppm, 6hr/day, 9 days). These data indicate that the rat nasal mucosa, which is the major target site for both aldehydes in inhalation toxicity studies, can metabolize both formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, and that the specific activities of formaldehyde and aldehyde dehydrogenase in homogenates of the nasal mucosa are essentially unchanged following repeated exposures to toxic concentrations of either compound.