Comparative effects of butylated hydroxyanisole on hepatic in vivo DNA binding and in vitro biotransformation of aflatoxin B1 in the rat and mouse

To determine the mechanisms which mediate species- and treatment-related differences in susceptibility to aflatoxin B1 (AFB), we conducted a comparative study of the effects of dietary butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) on the hepatic in vivo DNA binding and in vitro biotransformation of AFB in the rat and mouse. Mice are resistant to the hepatocarcinogenic effects of AFB, and BHA pretreatment has been shown to inhibit the carcinogenic effects of AFB in the highly susceptible rat. Rats and mice were fed a control diet or an identical diet containing 0.75% BHA for 10 days. On the 11th day, one-half of the control and BHA animals were administered [3H]AFB (0.25 mg/kg in dimethyl sulfoxide) via intraperitoneal injection. Animals were killed 2 hr later and covalent binding of AFB to hepatic DNA was determined. The remaining animals were killed for preparation of hepatic subcellular fractions used in in vitro assays. BHA treatment resulted in a decrease in in vivo hepatic AFB-DNA adduct formation in mice to 68% of control, but, in rats, treatment decreased AFB-DNA binding to 18% of control. Furthermore, hepatic AFB-DNA binding in control mice was only 1.2% of that measured in control rats. The rate of in vitro activation of AFB to the epoxide was 3.4-fold greater in control mice relative to control rats. BHA pretreatment increased the activation of AFB in mice 3.3-fold, but had no effect on oxidative metabolism in rats. Control mice had 52 times greater glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity toward the AFB-epoxide, but only 2.6 times greater GST activity toward 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB), compared to that of control rats. In mice, BHA did not significantly increase GST activity toward the AFB-epoxide, but increased GST activity toward CDNB 3.1-fold. In rats, BHA increased GST activity toward the AFB-epoxide and CDNB by 3.2- and 2.1-fold, respectively. Epoxide hydrolase activity toward p-nitrostyrene oxide in mice was only 52% of the activity in rats. BHA increased epoxide hydrolase activity 3.8- and 2.5-fold in mice and rats, respectively. These data indicate that mice have high levels of an AFB-epoxide-specific GST activity relative to that of the rat. The rate of formation of the AFB-epoxide and the activity of epoxide hydrolase appear to be relatively unimportant under conditions of high GST activity, whereas elevated GST activity, and thus inactivation of the AFB-epoxide, appears to be the critical component in species- and BHA-induced differences in AFB-DNA adduct formation and, presumably, AFB hepatocarcinogenicity.