In
vitro biotransformation rates were determined for 30 chemicals,
mostly fragrance ingredients, using trout liver S9 fractions (RT-S9)
and incorporated into in vitro–in vivo extrapolation (IVIVE)
models to predict bioconcentration factors (BCFs). Predicted BCFs
were compared against empirical BCFs to explore potential major uncertainties
involved in the in vitro methods and IVIVE models: (i) in vitro chemical
test concentrations; (ii) different gill uptake rate constant calculations
(k
1); (iii) protein binding (different
calculations and measurement of the fraction of unbound chemical, f
U); (iv) species differences; and (v) extrahepatic
biotransformation. Predicted BCFs were within 0.5 log units for 44%
of the chemicals compared to empirical BCFs, whereas 56% were overpredicted
by >0.5 log units. This trend of overprediction was reduced by
alternative k
1 calculations to 32% of
chemicals being overpredicted.
Moreover, hepatic in vitro rates scaled to whole body biotransformation
rates (k
B) were compared against in vivo k
B estimates. In vivo k
B was underestimated for 79% of the chemicals. Neither lowering
the test concentration, nor incorporation of new measured f
U values, nor species matching avoided the tendency
to overpredict BCFs indicating that further improvements to the IVIVE
models are needed or extrahepatic biotransformation plays an underestimated
role.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.