4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK, 1) and its metabolite, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL, 2) are both potent pulmonary carcinogens in rats. The metabolism of NNK to NNAL is stereoselective and reversible, with (S)-NNAL being the major enantiomer formed from NNK. In rats, (R)-NNAL undergoes facile glucuronidation and is rapidly excreted in urine, whereas (S)-NNAL is preferentially retained in tissues and converted to NNK. We hypothesized that the lung carcinogenicity of NNK in the rat is due in part to the preferential retention of (S)-NNAL in the lung, the reconversion to NNK, and then the metabolic activation of NNK to pyridyloxobutyl (POB)-DNA adducts. We tested this hypothesis by treating male F344 rats with 10 ppm of NNK, (R)-NNAL, or (S)-NNAL in drinking water. After 1, 2, 5, 10, 16, or 20 weeks of treatment, POB-DNA adducts in liver and lung DNA were quantified by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS. At each time point, total adduct levels were higher in the lung than in the liver. O2-[4-(3-pyridyl)-4-oxobut-1-yl]thymidine (O2-POB-dThd, 13) was the major adduct detected. Total adduct levels in the rats treated with (S)-NNAL were 0.6-1.3 times as great as those in the NNK group in the lung and 0.7-1.4 times in the liver, and 6-14 times higher than those in the (R)-NNAL group in the lung and 11-17 times in the liver. These results suggest that (S)-NNAL is stereoselectively retained in tissues. This study demonstrates for the first time the accumulation and persistence of specific POB-DNA adducts in the rat lung and liver during chronic treatment with NNK, (R)-NNAL, and (S)-NNAL and supports the hypothesis that the preferential retention of (S)-NNAL in the lung, followed by reconversion to NNK and then the metabolic activation of NNK is critical for lung carcinogenesis by NNK and NNAL.
NNN (1) is an esophageal carcinogen in rats. 2'-Hydroxylation of NNN is believed to be the major bioactivation pathway for NNN tumorigenicity. (S)-NNN is preferentially metabolized by 2'-hydroxylation in cultured rat esophagus, whereas there is no preference for 2'-hydroxylation versus 5'-hydroxylation in the metabolism of (R)-NNN. 2'-Hydroxylation of NNN generates the reactive intermediate 4-oxo-4-(3-pyridyl)butanediazohydroxide (8), resulting in the formation of pyridyloxobutyl (POB)-DNA adducts. On the basis of these observations, we hypothesized that (S)-NNN treatment would produce higher levels of POB-DNA adducts than that by (R)-NNN in the rat esophagus. We tested this hypothesis by treating male F344 rats with 10 ppm of (R)-NNN or (S)-NNN in drinking water. After 1, 2, 5, 10, 16, or 20 weeks of treatment, POB-DNA adducts in esophageal, liver, and lung DNA were quantified by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS. In the rat esophagus, (S)-NNN treatment generated levels of POB-DNA adducts 3-5 times higher than (R)-NNN treatment, which supports our hypothesis. 7-[4-(3-Pyridyl)-4-oxobut-1-yl]guanine (7-POB-Gua, 14) was the major adduct detected, followed by O2-[4-(3-pyridyl)-4-oxobut-1-yl]thymidine (O2-POB-dThd, 11) and O2-[4-(3-pyridyl)-4-oxobut-1-yl]cytosine (POB-Cyt, 15). O6-[4-(3-Pyridyl)-4-oxobut-1-yl]-2'-deoxyguanosine (O6-POB-dGuo, 10) was not detected. The total POB-DNA adduct levels in the esophagus were 3-11 times higher than those in the liver for (R)-NNN and 2-6 times higher than those for (S)-NNN. In contrast to the esophagus and liver, (R)-NNN treatment produced more POB-DNA adducts than (S)-NNN treatment in the rat lung, which suggested an important role for cytochrome P450 2A3 in NNN metabolism in the rat lung. In both the liver and lung, O2-POB-dThd was the predominant adduct and accumulated during the experiment. The results of this study demonstrate that individual POB-DNA adducts form and persist in the esophagi, livers, and lungs of rats chronically treated with NNN enantiomers and demonstrate that (S)-NNN produces higher levels of POB-DNA adducts in the esophagus than (R)-NNN, suggesting that (S)-NNN is more tumorigenic than (R)-NNN to the rat esophagus.
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