Toxicokinetics distribution

The kinetic properties of chemical compounds include their absorption and distribution in the body, theit biotransformation to more soluble forms through metabolic processes in the liver and other metabolic organs, and the excretion of the metabolites in the urine, the bile, the exhaled air, and in the saliva. An important issue in toxicokinetics deals with the formation of reactive toxic intermediates during phase I metabolic reactions (see. Section 5.3.3). 

Absorption, distribution, biotransformation, and excretion of chemical compounds have been discussed as separate phenomena. In reality all these processes occur simultaneously, and are integrated processes, i.e., they all affect each other. In order to understand the movements of chemicals in the body, and for the delineation of the duration of action of a chemical m the organism, it is important to be able to quantify these toxicokinetic phases. For this purpose various models are used, of which the most widely utilized are the one-compartment, two-compartment, and various physiologically based pharmacokinetic models. These models resemble models used in ventilation engineering to characterize air exchange. 

Physiologically based toxicokinetic models are nowadays used increasingly for toxicological risk assessment. These models are based on human physiology, and thus take into consideration the actual toxicokinetic processes more accurately than the one- or two-compartment models. In these models, all of the relevant information regarding absorption, distribution, biotransformarion, and elimination of a compound is utilized. The principles of physiologically based pharmaco/ toxicokinetic models are depicted in Fig. 5.41a and h. The... 

Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion. Evidence of absorption comes from the occurrence of toxic effects following exposure to methyl parathion by all three routes (Fazekas 1971 Miyamoto et al. 1963b Nemec et al. 1968 Skiimer and Kilgore 1982b). These data indicate that the compound is absorbed by both humans and animals. No information is available to assess the relative rates and extent of absorption following inhalation and dermal exposure in humans or inhalation in animals. A dermal study in rats indicates that methyl parathion is rapidly absorbed through the skin (Abu-Qare et al. 2000). Additional data further indicate that methyl parathion is absorbed extensively and rapidly in humans and animals via oral and dermal routes of exposure (Braeckman et al. 1983 Flollingworth et al. 1967 Ware et al. 1973). However, additional toxicokinetic studies are needed to elucidate or further examine the efficiency and kinetics of absorption by all three exposure routes. 

Practically all toxicokinetic properties reported are based on the results from acute exposure studies. Generally, no information was available regarding intermediate or chronic exposure to methyl parathion. Because methyl parathion is an enzyme inhibitor, the kinetics of metabolism during chronic exposure could differ from those seen during acute exposure. Similarly, excretion kinetics may differ with time. Thus, additional studies on the distribution, metabolism, and excretion of methyl parathion and its toxic metabolite, methyl paraoxon, during intermediate and chronic exposure are needed to assess the potential for toxicity following longer-duration exposures. 

Toxicokinetic—The study of the absorption, distribution and elimination of toxic compounds in the living organism. 

For convenience, the processes identified in Figure 2.1 can be separated into two distinct categories toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics. Toxicokinetics covers uptake, distribution, metabolism, and excretion processes that determine how much of the toxic form of the chemical (parent compound or active metabolite) will reach the site of action. Toxicodynamics is concerned with the interaction with the sites of action, leading to the expression of toxic effects. The interplay of the processes of toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics determines toxicity. The more the toxic form of the chemical that reaches the site of action, and the greater the sensitivity of the site of action to the chemical, the more toxic it will be. In the following text, toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics will be dealt with separately. 

Toxicokinetics Relating to the fate of toxic chemicals within living organisms— that is, questions of uptake, distribution, metabolism, storage, and excretion factors that determine how much of a toxic form reaches the site of action. 

Of particular interest in brevetoxin research are the diagnosis of intoxication and identification of brevetoxins and their metabolites in biological fluids. We are investigating the distribution and fate of radiolabeled PbTx-3 in rats. Three model systems were used to study the toxicokinetics and metabolism of PbTx-3 1) rats injected intravenously with a bolus dose of toxin, 2) isolated rat livers perfused with toxin, and 3) isolated rat hepatocytes exposed to the toxin in vitro. 

An understanding of the role of toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics in the manifestation of hazard is fundamental to designing safer chemicals and can guide early design choices. Toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics use the same principles to study toxicological phenomena as those that are used to study the therapeutic use of chemicals as medicines. Toxicokinetics is concerned with the time course of action of chemicals that involves the disposition of a chemical affected by absorption, distribution, metabohsm and excretion commonly referred to by the acronym ADME. 

No studies were located regarding toxicokinetic data in humans. Limited information is available regarding the toxicokinetic differences among animal species. Rats, mice, mink, and dogs showed rapid absorption, wide distribution, and over 90% urinary excretion of diisopropyl methylphosphonate or its metabolites. However, the rates of absorption and patterns of distribution varied (Hart 1976 Weiss et al. 1994). The mechanism of toxicity is also undetermined. From the limited data available, it is not possible to determine the degree of correlation between humans and animals. 

Comparative Toxicokinetics. The toxicokinetics database is wholly inadequate with respect to comparing toxicokinetics across species, largely because of the dearth of baseline data regarding absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion in any species after exposure to mineral oil hydraulic fluids, organophosphate ester hydraulic fluids, or polyalphaolefin hydraulic fluids. Also, no studies were located on the toxicokinetic properties of hydraulic fluids in humans. 

The multimedia model present in the 2 FUN tool was developed based on an extensive comparison and evaluation of some of the previously discussed multimedia models, such as CalTOX, Simplebox, XtraFOOD, etc. The multimedia model comprises several environmental modules, i.e. air, fresh water, soil/ground water, several crops and animal (cow and milk). It is used to simulate chemical distribution in the environmental modules, taking into account the manifold links between them. The PBPK models were developed to simulate the body burden of toxic chemicals throughout the entire human lifespan, integrating the evolution of the physiology and anatomy from childhood to advanced age. That model is based on a detailed description of the body anatomy and includes a substantial number of tissue compartments to enable detailed analysis of toxicokinetics for diverse chemicals that induce multiple effects in different target tissues. The key input parameters used in both models were given in the form of probability density function (PDF) to allow for the exhaustive probabilistic analysis and sensitivity analysis in terms of simulation outcomes [71]. 

Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion. Metabolism and excretion in animals exposed to acrylonitrile by the inhalation and oral routes have been studied extensively. However, only limited data on absorption and distribution are available. Some data on humans exposed by inhalation are available. No data are available on the toxicokinetics of acrylonitrile when the exposure route is dermal. More extensive information on absorption and distribution of acrylonitrile would be valuable to fully understand the toxicokinetics of acrylonitrile. Some data on the toxicokinetics of acrylonitrile... 

Comparative Toxicokinetics. The absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of acrylonitrile in rats has been studied. Limited work in other species suggests that important species differences do exist. Further evaluation of these differences, and comparison of metabolic patterns in humans with those of animals would assist in determining the most appropriate animal species for evaluating the hazard and risk of human exposure to acrylonitrile. 

The kidney and liver are the primary target organs for hexachloroethane based on the results of toxicity testing and supported by toxicokinetic information from tissue distribution and binding studies (Lattanzi et al. 1988). Male rats were more susceptible to kidney damage than female rats (NTP 1989), and the kidneys of male rats contained 4-45% more hexachloroethane radiolabel than the kidneys of female rats (Gorzinski et al. 1985). However, there were some effects on kidneys of both sexes. 

Comparative Toxicokinetics. The toxicokinetic studies available indicate that the rat is a good model for human neurotoxicity observed after occupational exposure to 77-hexane. Mild signs can be produced in chickens and mice, but these do not progress to the serious neurotoxicity observed in humans and rats. Toxicokinetic data from other species (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion) could provide insight on the molecular mechanism(s) of the species specificity of 77-hexane toxicity and would be valuable for predicting toxic effects in humans. 

There is no experimental evidence available to assess whether the toxicokinetics of -hexane differ between children and adults. Experiments in the rat model comparing kinetic parameters in weanling and mature animals after exposure to -hexane would be useful. These experiments should be designed to determine the concentration-time dependence (area under the curve) for blood levels of the neurotoxic /7-hcxane metabolite 2,5-hexanedione. w-Hcxanc and its metabolites cross the placenta in the rat (Bus et al. 1979) however, no preferential distribution to the fetus was observed. -Hexane has been detected, but not quantified, in human breast milk (Pellizzari et al. 1982), and a milk/blood partition coefficient of 2.10 has been determined experimentally in humans (Fisher et al. 1997). However, no pharmacokinetic experiments are available to confirm that -hexane or its metabolites are actually transferred to breast milk. Based on studies in humans, it appears unlikely that significant amounts of -hexane would be stored in human tissues at likely levels of exposure, so it is unlikely that maternal stores would be released upon pregnancy or lactation. A PBPK model is available for the transfer of M-hcxanc from milk to a nursing infant (Fisher et al. 1997) the model predicted that -hcxane intake by a nursing infant whose mother was exposed to 50 ppm at work would be well below the EPA advisory level for a 10-kg infant. However, this model cannot be validated without data on -hexane content in milk under known exposure conditions. 

Exposure Assessment. Single and multiple dose pharmacokinetics, toxicokinetics and tissue distribution studies in relevant species are useful. Proteins are not given orally demonstrating absorption and mass balance is not typically a primary consideration. Rather, this segment of the test should be designed to determine... 

To date, very little quantitative data exist regarding the toxicokinetics of endrin and its metabolites. Limited data were found regarding the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of endrin in humans and animals after inhalation, oral, or dermal exposure, which is especially relevant to occupational exposure scenarios. Endrin appears to be well absorbed orally, and distribution is primarily to fat and skin. Endrin is excreted in urine and feces, and the major biotransformation product is anti-12-hydroxy-... 

---