The present study developed physiologically-based kinetic (PBK) models for the alkenylbenzene apiol in order to facilitate risk assessment based on read-across from the related alkenylbenzene safrole. Model predictions indicate that in rat liver the formation of the 1'-sulfoxy metabolite is about 3 times lower for apiol than for safrole. These data support that the lower confidence limit of the benchmark dose resulting in a 10% extra cancer incidence (BMDL10) that would be obtained in a rodent carcinogenicity study with apiol may be 3-fold higher for apiol than for safrole. These results enable a preliminary risk assessment for apiol, for which tumor data are not available, using a BMDL10 value of 3 times the BMDL10 for safrole. Based on an estimated BMDL10 for apiol of 5.7-15.3 mg/kg body wt per day and an estimated daily intake of 4 × 10(-5) mg/kg body wt per day, the margin of exposure (MOE) would amount to 140,000-385,000. This indicates a low priority for risk management. The present study shows how PBK modelling can contribute to the development of alternatives for animal testing, facilitating read-across from compounds for which in vivo toxicity studies on tumor formation are available to compounds for which these data are unavailable.

The present study describes physiologically based kinetic (PBK) models for the alkenylbenzene myristicin that were developed by extension of the PBK models for the structurally related alkenylbenzene safrole in rat and human. The newly developed myristicin models revealed that the formation of the proximate carcinogenic metabolite 1′-hydroxymyristicin in liver is at most 1.8 fold higher in rat than in human and limited for the ultimate carcinogenic metabolite 1′-sulfoxymyristicin to (2.8–4.0)-fold higher in human. In addition, a comparison was made between the relative importance of bioactivation for myristicin and safrole. Model predictions indicate that for these related compounds, the formation of the 1′-sulfoxy metabolites in rat and human liver is comparable with a difference of <2.2-fold over a wide dose range. The results from this PBK analysis support that risk assessment of myristicin may be based on the BMDL10 derived for safrole of 1.9–5.1 mg/kg bw per day. Using an estimated daily intake of myristicin of 0.0019 mg/kg bw per day resulting from the use of herbs and spices, this results in MOE values for myristicin that amount to 1000–2700, indicating a priority for risk management. The results obtained illustrate that PBK modeling provides insight into possible species differences in the metabolic activation of myristicin. Moreover, they provide an example of how PBK modeling can facilitate a read-across in risk assessment from a compound for which in vivo toxicity studies are available to a related compound for which tumor data are not reported, thus contributing to alternatives in animal testing.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00204-016-1752-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

trans-2-Hexenal (2-hexenal) is an α,β-unsaturated aldehyde that occurs naturally in a wide range of fruits, vegetables, and spices. 2-Hexenal as well as other α,β-unsaturated aldehydes that are natural food constituents or flavoring agents may raise a concern for genotoxicity due to the ability of the α,β-unsaturated aldehyde moiety to react with DNA. Controversy remains, however, on whether α,β-unsaturated aldehydes result in significant DNA adduct formation in vivo at realistic dietary exposure. In this study, a rat physiologically based in silico model was developed for 2-hexenal as a model compound to examine the time- and dose-dependent detoxification and DNA adduct formation of this selected α,β-unsaturated aldehyde. The model was developed based on in vitro and literature-derived parameters, and its adequacy was evaluated by comparing predicted DNA adduct formation in the liver of rats exposed to 2-hexenal with reported in vivo data. The model revealed that at an exposure level of 0.04 mg/kg body weight, a value reflecting estimated daily human dietary intake, 2-hexenal is rapidly detoxified predominantly by conjugation with glutathione (GSH) by glutathione S-transferases. At higher dose levels, depletion of GSH results in a shift to 2-hexenal oxidation and reduction as the major pathways for detoxification. The level of DNA adduct formation at current levels of human dietary intake was predicted to be more than 3 orders of magnitude lower than endogenous DNA adduct levels. These results support that rapid detoxification of 2-hexenal reduces the risk arising from 2-hexenal exposure and that at current dietary exposure levels, DNA adduct formation is negligible.

A number of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes are present in food both as natural constituents and as flavouring agents. Their reaction with DNA due to their electrophilic α,β-unsaturated aldehyde moiety may result in genotoxicity as observed in some in vitro models, thereby raising a safety concern. A question that remains is whether in vivo detoxification would be efficient enough to prevent DNA adduct formation and genotoxicity. In this study, a human physiologically based kinetic/dynamic (PBK/D) model of trans-2-hexenal (2-hexenal), a selected model α,β-unsaturated aldehyde, was developed to examine dose-dependent detoxification and DNA adduct formation in humans upon dietary exposure. The kinetic model parameters for detoxification were quantified using relevant pooled human tissue fractions as well as tissue fractions from 11 different individual subjects. In addition, a Monte Carlo simulation was performed so that the impact of interindividual variation in 2-hexenal detoxification on the DNA adduct formation in the population as a whole could be examined. The PBK/D model revealed that DNA adduct formation due to 2-hexenal exposure was 0.039 adducts/10⁸ nucleotides (nt) at the estimated average 2-hexenal dietary intake (0.04 mg 2-hexenal/kg bw) and 0.18 adducts/10⁸ nt at the 95th percentile of the dietary intake (0.178 mg 2-hexenal/kg bw) in the most sensitive people. These levels are three orders of magnitude lower than natural background DNA adduct levels that have been reported in disease-free humans (6.8-110 adducts/10⁸ nt), suggesting that the genotoxicity risk for the human population at realistic dietary daily intakes of 2-hexenal may be negligible.

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