Species differences in the effects of 1,1-di-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-chloroethylene (DDMU) and 1,1-di-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,2-dichloroethylene (DDE) on glutathione levels in isolated hepatocytes from Japanese quail and rat

Abstract

1. Hepatocytes have been isolated from adult Japanese quail in high yields (26—40 × 10⁶ cells/g) with 95% viability. Variation in the collagenase and hyaluronidase levels and incubation time used in the isolation procedure affected the yield and viability of the hepatocytes. Quail hepatocytes were more stable in a standard nutrient medium than those of the rat.

2. 1,1-Di-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-chloroethylene (DDMU), a metabolite of DDT, depleted quail hepatic GSH levels both in vitro and in vivo, but had no effect on rat hepatocytes. DDMU (0.1 mM) depleted GSH levels in the quail to the same extent as diethyl maleate (a known GSH-depleting agent) (0.04mM) but the latter acted more rapidly.

3. Pretreatment of quail in vivo with DDMU or phenobarbitone, known inducers of the hepatic mixed-function oxidases, resulted in faster depletion of GSH when the hepatocytes were incubated subsequently with DDMU in vitro

4. In contrast, 1,1-di-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,2-dichloroethylene (DDE), another metabolite of DDT, did not deplete GSH levels in the quail but did cause some reduction in the rat. Phenobarbitone pretreatment had no effect on GSH depletion by DDE in vitro in quail hepatocytes but enhanced GSH depletion in rat hepatocytes.