Hemoglobin adducts of N-substituted aryl compounds in exposure control and risk assessment.

Arylamines, nitroarenes, and azo dyes yield a common type of metabolite, the nitroarene, which produces a hydrolyzable adduct with protein and is closely related to the critical, ultimate toxic and genotoxic metabolite. The target dose as measured by hemoglobin adducts in erythrocytes reflects not only the actual uptake from the environment but also an individual's capacity for metabolic activation and is therefore an improved dosimeter for human exposure. The usefulness of hemoglobin adducts in molecular epidemiology is now widely recognized. With regard to risk assessment, many questions need to be answered. The described experiments in rats address some of these questions. The relationship between binding to hemoglobin in erythrocytes and to proteins in plasma has been found to vary considerably for a number of diamines. The fraction of hydrolyzable adducts out of the total protein adducts formed also varies in both compartments. This indicates that the kind of circulating metabolites and their availability in different compartments is compound specific. This has to do with the complex pattern of competing metabolic pathways, and the role of N-acetylation and deacetylation is emphasized. An example of nonlinear dose dependence adds to the complexity. Analysis of hemoglobin adducts reveals interesting insights into prevailing pathways, which not only apply to the chemical, but may also be useful to assess an individual's metabolic properties. In addition, it is demonstrated that the greater part of erythrocytes and benzidine-hemoglobin adducts are eliminated randomly in rats, i.e., following first-order kinetics.