© 1990 Oxford University Press
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The Structure-Dependent Effects of Heptachlorodibenzofuran Isomers in Male C57BL/6 Mice: Immunotoxicity and onooxygenase Enzyme Induction
Departments of Veterinary Physiology & Pharmacology and Biochemistry and Biophysics Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843
Received December 14, 1989; accepted March 26, 1990
The Structure-Dependent Effects of Heptachlorodibenzofuran Isomers in Male C57BL/6 Mice: Immunotoxicity and Monooxygenase Enzyme Induction. DICKERSON, R., HOWIE, L., DAVIS, D., AND SAFE, S. (1990). Fundam. Appl. Toxicol. 15,298/307. The dose-response effects of the 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-, 1,2,3,4,7,8,9-, 1,2,3,4,6,8,9-, and 1,2,3,4,6,7,9-heptachlorodibenzofurans (HpCDFs) on the splenic plaque-forming cell (PFC) response to sheep erythrocytes and on the induction of hepatic microsomal aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) and ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activities were determined in male C57BL/6 mice. The ED50 values for the decrease in the PFCs/spleen, the number of PFCs/10 viable cells, and the induction of AHH and EROD activities were 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDF, 0.011,0.018,0.11, and 0.315 /imol/kg, respectively; 1,2,3,4,7,8,9-HpCDF, 0.012, 0.054, 0.70, and 0.20 Mmol/kg, respectively; 1,2,3,4,6,7,9-HpCDF, 1.2, 1.3, >43, and >43 Mmol/kg, respectively, 1,2,3,4,6,8,9-HpCDF, 1.5, 3.4, 22, and 22 Mmol/kg, respectively. It was apparent from these studies that the 2,3,7,8-substituted HpCDF isomers (1,2,3,4,6,7,8- and 1,2,3,4,7,8,9-) were significantly more potent than the compounds which contained only three lateral Cl groups. These results were obtained using a multiple dosing regimen in which 10 separate doses of the HpCDF isomers were administered to the mice by intraperitoneal injection over a period of 12 days. However, when the mice were treated with a single dose of an HpCDF congener, which was equivalent to the total dose used in the multiple dose study, the responses were comparable. A comparison of the relative immunotoxic potencies of the 2,3,7,8-substituted HpCDFs and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-/>-dioxin showed that the latter compound was approximately 10 times more active than the HpCDFs