No abstract

Photodecomposition of retinyl palmitate (RP), an ester and the storage form of vitamin A (retinol), in ethanol under UVA light irradiation was studied. The resulting photodecomposition products were separated by reversed-phase HPLC and identified by spectral analysis and comparison with the chromatographic and spectral properties of synthetically prepared standards. The identified products include 5,6-epoxy-RP, 4-keto-RP, 11-ethoxy-12-hydroxy-RP, 13-ethoxy-14-hydroxy-RP, anhydroretinol (AR), palmitic acid, ethyl palmitate, and four tentatively assigned cis and trans isomeric 15-ethoxy-ARs. AR was formed as a mixture of all-trans-AR, 6Z-cis-AR, 8Z-cis-AR, and 12Z-cis-AR with all-trans-AR predominating. 5,6-Epoxy-RP, 4-keto-RP, 11-ethoxy-12-hydroxy-RP, and 13-ethoxy-14-hydroxy-RP were also formed from reaction of RP with alkylperoxy radicals generated by thermal decomposition of 2,2'-azobis(2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile). Formation of these photodecomposition products was inhibited in the presence of sodium azide (NaN3), a free radical inhibitor. These results suggest that formation of 5,6-epoxy-RP, 4-keto-RP, 11-ethoxy-12-hydroxy-RP, and 13-ethoxy-14-hydroxy-RP from photoirradiation of RP is mediated by a light-initiated free radical chain reaction. AR and the isomeric 11-ethoxy-ARs were not formed from reaction of RP with alkylperoxy radicals generated from 2,2'-azobis(2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile), and their formation was not inhibited when NaN3 was present during the photoirradiation of RP. We propose that these products were formed through an ionic photodissociation mechanism, which is similar to the reported formation of AR through ionic photodissociation of retinyl acetate. RP and all its identified photodecomposition products described above (i) were not mutagenic in Salmonella typhimurium tester strains TA98, TA100, TA102, and TA104 in the presence and absence of S9 activation enzymes, (ii) were not photomutagenic in Salmonella typhimurium TA102 upon UVA irradiation, and (iii) did not bind with calf thymus DNA in the presence of microsomal metabolizing enzymes. These results suggest that RP and its decomposition products are not genotoxic; however, photoirradiation of RP, 5,6-epoxy-RP, and AR with UVA light in the presence of methyl linoleate resulted in lipid peroxide (methyl linoleate hydroperoxides) formation. The lipid peroxide formation was inhibited by dithiothreitol (DTT) (free radical scavenger), NaN3 (singlet oxygen and free radical scavenger), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) (superoxide scavenger) but was enhanced by the presence of deuterium oxide (D2O) (enhancement of singlet oxygen lifetime). These results suggest that photoirradiation of RP, 5,6-epoxy-RP, and AR by UVA light generated reactive oxygen species resulting in lipid (methyl linoleate) peroxidation.

Malachite green (MG), a triphenylmethane dye used to treat fungal and protozoan infections in fish, undergoes sequential oxidation to produce various N-demethylated derivatives (monodes-, dides(sym)-, dides(unsym)-, trides-, and tetrades-) both before and after reduction to leucomalachite green (LMG). The close structure resemblance of the metabolites with aromatic amine carcinogens implicates a potential genotoxicity from exposure to MG. The availability of the synthetic standards is important for metabolic and DNA adduct studies of MG. This paper describes a simple and versatile method for the synthesis of MG, LMG, and their N-demethylated metabolites. The synthesis involves a coupling of 4-(dimethylamino)benzophenone or 4-nitrobenzophenone with the aryllithium reagents derived from appropriately substituted 4-bromoaniline derivatives, followed by treatment with HCl in methanol. The resulting cationic MG and their leuco analogues showed systematic UV/vis spectral and tandem mass fragmentation patterns consistent with sequential N-demethylation. The extensive (1)H and (13)C spectral assignments of the metabolites were aided by the availability of (13)C(7)-labeled MG and LMG. The results indicate the existence of a resonance structure with the cationic charge located in the central methane carbon (C(7)). The synthetic procedure is general in scope so that it can be extended to the preparation of N-demethylated metabolites of other structurally related N-methylated triphenylmethane dyes.