Metabolism and toxicity of synthetic analogues of macrocyclic diester pyrrolizidine alkaloids

Seven macrocyclic diesters analogous to hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids have been tested in male weanling Wistar rats. The compounds were the succinate (VII), 2,3-dimethylsuccinate (VIII), phthalate (IX), glutarate (X), 2,4-dimethylglutarate (XI), 3,3-dimethylglutarate (XII) and 3,3-pentamethyleneglutarate (XIII) of the synthetic amino dialcohol, synthanecine A. Single doses of these compounds were given i.p. to rats, and liver levels of pyrrolic metabolites were measured 2 h later. For these experiments both normal rats and rats pretreated with the esterase inhibitor tri-orthocresylphosphate (TOCP) were used. In normal rats, low levels of pyrrolic metabolites were formed from compounds VII, IX, X and XI, but these levels were greatly enhanced in rats with inhibited esterase activity. Much higher pyrrole levels were formed from compounds VIII, XII and XIII in normal rats, and esterase inhibition had relatively little effect on their metabolic conversion to pyrroles. This indicated that the last mentioned compounds were relatively resistant to enzymic hydrolysis, whereas VII, IX, X and XI were easily hydrolysed in normal rats, providing an alternative metabolic path which limited their conversion to pyrrolic metabolites. Comparison of results obtained using the 2,4-dimethylglutarate (XI), the 3,3-dimethylglutarate (XII) and the 3,3,-pentamethyleneglutarate (XIII) showed that 3,3-disubstitution but not 2,4-disubstitution in the glutaric acid moiety conferred high resistance to esterase attack. Toxicity tests using four of the compounds confirmed that acute hepatotoxicity was dose related, and associated with the formation of pyrrolic metabolites in the liver. The 3,3-dimethylglutarate (XII) was highly toxic both in normal and in TOCP treated rats, doses of 25-30 mg/kg causing moderate to severe centrilobular necrosis of the liver. In contrast the toxicity of the unsubstituted succinate (VII), glutarate (X) and 2,4-dimethylglutarate (XI) was very low in normal rats but high in rats with inhibited esterase activity. Thus, the glutarate (X) was non-toxic at 200 mg/kg in normal rats, but in TOCP treated rats, in which pyrrolic metabolite formation was enhanced by a factor of 17.5, a 50 mg/kg dose of this compound was severely hepatotoxic. Kidney damage, which was generally limited to the presence of isolated necrotic cells, sometimes accompanied the liver damage caused by these compounds, but acute toxic effects were not observed in any other tissues.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Pyrrolic and N-oxide metabolites formed from pyrrolizidine alkaloids by hepatic microsomes in vitro: Relevance to in vivo hepatotoxicity

An analytical method of improved sensitivity has enabled measurements to be made of N-oxide as well as pyrrolic metabolites formed from a range of unsaturated pyrrolizidine alkaloids in hepatic microsome preparations. Using microsomes from livers of phenobarbitone-pretreated male Fischer rats, all 13 alkaloids tested were metabolised to both N-oxides and pyrroles. The most lipophilic alkaloids gave enhanced rates of metabolism. No consistent relationship existed between rates of N-oxide and of pyrrole formation. The two pathways appeared to be independent. The ratio of N-oxide to pyrrolic metabolites varied, depending on the type of ester: it was highest for ‘open’ diester alkaloids, lowest for 12 membered macrocyclic diesters and for monoesters. Steric hindrance by the acid moiety could account for these differences, by affecting the balance between microsomal oxidation of the amino alcohol moiety at the nitrogen and C8 positions respectively and could explain the high pyrrole yields given by some macrocyclic diesters. The levels of pyrrolic metabolites bound to liver tissues and responsible for hepatotoxicity in rats given pyrrolizidine alkaloids, did not necessarily reflect the rates of formation of such metabolites measured in vitro. In the animal additional factors could influence the formation and tissue binding of pyrrolic metabolites, including the detoxication of alkaloids by hydrolysis and the chemical reactivity and stability of the toxic metabolites. A comparison of heliotridine esters with retronecine esters showed that the 7-hydroxyl or -ester configuration had a relatively small influence on the balance between formation of pyrrolic metabolites and detoxication by N-oxidation. The results did not support any hypothesis that heliotridine esters should generally be more hepatotoxic than analogous retronecine esters. The structure of the acid moiety was likely to have at least as much influence on toxicity as the base configuration.     

Hepato- and pneumotoxicity of pyrrolizidine alkaloids and derivatives in relation to molecular structure.

62 pyrrolizidine alkaloids and derivatives have been screened for acute and chronic hepato- and pneumotoxicity by the single dose method previously described. This procedure is satisfactory for the compounds of medium to high hepatotoxicity but failed to detect toxicity in certain other compounds of known, low hepatotoxicity. New findings significant in relation to hepatotoxicity are as follows: (i) On a molar basis, diesters of heliotridine and retronecine are about 4 times as toxic as the respective mono-esters and heliotridine esters are 2-4 times as toxic as retronecine esters. (ii) Crotanecine esters are less toxic than retronecine esters, and the 6,9-diester madurensine, 2-4 times less toxic than the 7,9-diester anacrotine (the difference being ascribed to there being only one reactive alkylating centre in the toxic metabolite from madurensine). (iii) Hepatotoxicity was confirmed for 7-angelylheliotridine but not observed for 9-angelyheliotridine and 7- and 9-angelylretronecine. (iv) Other significant compounds failing to induce hepatotoxicity were 9-pivalyl- and 7,9-dipivalyheliotridine, the alpha- and beta-epoxides of monocrotaline, 7-angelyl-1-methylenepyrrolizidine and the methiodides of monocrotaline and senecionine. The following compounds are readily converted by rat liver microsomes in vitro into dehydroheliotridine (or dehydroretronecine): 7- and 9-angelyheliotridine, 7- and 9-angelylretronecine, 7,9-dipivalylheliotridine and otosenine. 7,9-Divalerylheliotridine, the alpha- and beta-epoxides of monocrotaline, and retusamine yield pyrrolic metabolites more slowly. The preparation and characterisation of several alkaloid derivatives are described. Chronic lung lesions were produced by most compounds which gave chronic liver lesions, although a higher dose was required in some instances. This requirement may sometimes mean that chronic lung lesions cannot be induced because of the intervention of acute or peracute deaths. Apart from this factor, structure activity requirements for pneumotoxicity are the same as for hepatotoxicity, consistent with their being both caused by the same toxic metabolites.     

Active Metabolites in the Chronic Hepatotoxicity of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids,including Otonecine Esters

WHEN she reported the chronic hepatotoxicity of the alkaloids senkirkine and hydroxysenkirkine, which are esters of the aminoalcohol otonecine, Schoental¹ suggested that 1,2-epoxides rather than pyrrolic derivatives^2,3 are the active metabolites of hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. We have results which confirm the hepatotoxicity of otonecine esters but argue against the suggested involvement of 1,2-epoxides.     

Acute hepatotoxicity and pyrrolic metabolites in rats dosed with pyrrolizidine alkaloids

Relationships can be demonstrated between the acute hepatotoxicity of some pyrrolizidine alkaloids and the amounts of pyrrolic metabolites found in livers of rats given the alkaloids.     

Antimitotic activity of dehydroretronecine, a pyrrolizidine alkaloid metabolite, and some analogous compounds, in a rat liver parenchymal cell line

The actions of 13 pyrrolic alcohols with similar chemical properties have been tested on cultured liver cells. Two, dehydroretronecine and dehydrosupinidine, were putative metabolites of hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids; the remainder were synthetic. All were either mono- or bi-functional alkylating agents.

Groups of cells were exposed to the compounds and were later stimulated to divide by changing the medium, then fixed, stained, and the proportions of cells in mitosis counted and compared with those in similarly treated control cells.

Eleven compounds partially or completely inhibited cell division at concentrations of 10⁻⁴ M or less. Bifunctional compounds, including dehydroretronecine and 2,3-bis-hydroxymethyl-1-methylpyrrole, had the highest antimitotic activity coupled with lowest cytotoxicity. The least chemically reactive compound, 3-hydroxymethyl-1-methylpyrrole, was neither antimitotic nor cytotoxic, whereas the monofunctional alkylating agents with highest reactivity, such as 3-hydroxymethyl-1,2-dimethylpyrrole, were the most toxic to the cells.

The mitotic block occurred at a post-synthetic stage of the cell cycle, and affected cells could grow to a giant size.     

Metabolism and toxicity of anacrotine, a pyrrolizidine alkaloid, in rats

The effects of anacrotine, a pyrrolizidine alkaloid (PA) which has the structure of senecionine with an additional 6-hydroxy group, have been investigated in weanling male rats. When anacrotine was given i.p. (100 mg/kg), pyrrolic metabolites reached a peak level in the liver during the first 0.5 h, then fell rapidly to a lower level which subsequently declined more slowly. Pyrrolic metabolites accumulated in the lungs during the first hour to a level which then remained relatively steady for at least 4 h. The lung level of pyrrolic metabolites after 2 h was about 39% of the liver level, compared with 16% in rats given senecionine. Anacrotine caused acute centrilobular necrosis and congestion of the liver when 125 mg/kg or more was given i.p., but oral doses (up to 180 mg/kg) caused relatively little liver necrosis. Enlarged hepatocytes developed during ensuing weeks, but these were moderate compared with the bizarre giant cells often associated with pyrrolizidine intoxication. In contrast, anacrotine produced much more severe lung damage than most other pyrrolizidine alkaloids. The lungs were affected by i.p. or oral doses well below those needed to produce acute liver damage. Pulmonary congestion and oedema, extensive necrosis of the pulmonary endothelium, and thickening of alveolar septae, developed within 2 days after dosing. After single i.p. doses of 60 mg/kg or more progressive consolidation of lung tissue often led to death after 2-5 weeks. Hearts showed myocardial necrosis of the right ventricular wall. Dehydroanacrotine, the putative reactive pyrrolic metabolite of anacrotine, given i.v. to rats, caused dose-related chronic lung and heart damage identical to that produced by anacrotine, but after lower doses (6-27 mg/kg); larger amounts caused acute lung damage. It is suggested that the severe lung damage in animals given anacrotine is due to dehydroanacrotine, formed in the liver. This metabolite is more stable than the pyrrolic derivatives of most other pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and it is thus able to reach the lungs in relatively large amounts.     

Recovery of the pyrrolic nucleus of pyrrolizidine alkaloid metabolites from sulphur conjugates in tissues and body fluids

Reactive pyrrolic metabolites formed when pyrrolizidine alkaloids are given to rats can alkylate soluble and tissue-bound thiol groups. Pyrrolic thioethers thus formed are relatively stable, and may persist in tissues for long periods. A simple procedure has been developed for recovering the nucleus of the pyrrolic metabolite from such S-binding, whether in solution or attached to solid tissues, in an easily identifiable form. The thioether bond was broken by silver nitrate and the pyrrolic moiety allowed to react with ethanol or methanol to form an ethoxy or methoxy derivative. The chemical basis of the procedure was established by model experiments on a preparative scale, but for small scale recovery from tissues, pyrrolic ethers were extracted and identified by TLC, HPLC, capillary GC and mass spectrometry. Because the pyrrolic derivatives thus formed were easily recognised and unrelated to any physiological compound, the recovery method described, especially when applied to blood samples, provided a way to monitor animals for previous exposure to toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids.     

Pyrrolic Metabolites from Non-toxic Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids

THERE is evidence that some or all of the cytotoxic effects of unsaturated pyrrolizidine alkaloids are, in some animals, caused by pyrrolic metabolites formed by enzymatic dehydro-genation of the alkaloids in the liver^1,2. These metabolites are dihydropyrrolizine alcohols like I in Fig. 1 or their esters II; one such alcohol has been identified³. Compared with the parent alkaloids these metabolites are highly reactive alkylating agents, capable of reacting chemically with tissue constituents^1,2,4.     

Relation of structural features to pyrrolic metabolites in livers of rats given pyrrolizidine alkaloids and derivatives

Levels of pyrrolic metabolites have been measured in the livers of rats given some pyrrolizidine alkaloids and semisynthetic derivatives. Structural and chemical features favouring the formation of such metabolites have been defined. The most important of these were: steric hindrance or chemical properties giving resistance to ester hydrolysis; lipophilic character, allowing access to hepatic microsomal enzymes; a conformation favoring microsomal oxidation of the pyrroline ring in preference to N-oxidation. In addition, the presence of ester groups gave the resulting pyrroles high chemical reactivity, leading to tissue binding.Amounts of pyrroles bound to liver were very low when animals were given either highly water soluble pyrrolizidine derivatives, including non-esterified bases or more-lipophilic esters if these were easily hydrolysed. Compounds prone to hydrolysis gave increased pyrrole levels in rats pretreated to deplete their esterase activity. Whereas heliotridine-based alkaloids usually give more pyrrole than similar retronecine esters, heliotridine ditiglate gave less pyrrole than retronecine ditiglate because the former was more open to hydrolytic attack.Among the carboxylic diesters, the cyclic retronecine diesters, in which the pyrrolizidine nucleus is more exposed to oxidative metabolism, gave the highest pyrrole levels in rats.Liver pyrrole measurements are useful for studying relationships between molecular structure, metabolism and toxicity of pyrrolizidine derivatives. They can be used for screening alkaloids for potential toxicity and for assessing dose levels suitable for toxicity tests when limited material is available.     

Chemistry of sulphur-bound pyrrolic metabolites in the blood of rats given different types of pyrrolizidine alkaloid.

Rats were injected with the pyrrolizidine alkaloids heliotrine, indicine, or anacrotine, and killed after 20 hr. Alkaloid metabolites conjugated to haemoglobin thiol groups were recovered in the form of pyrrolic monoethyl ethers, by treating blood samples with ethanolic silver nitrate under "buffered" conditions. Chemically prepared putative toxic metabolites of the alkaloids--dehydroheliotrine, dehydroindicine, and dehydroanacrotine--were also allowed to react in vitro with blood and with an immobilized thiol, thiol-Sepharose, and subsequently the S-conjugated pyrroles were again recovered as ethyl ethers. The recovered pyrrolic ethers were identified by comparing them with reference compounds prepared from ethanol and the dehydro-alkaloids, and the structures of the S-bound pyrroles were deduced. Blood from rats given the 9-monoester alkaloids heliotrine or indicine contained pyrrolic residues, S-bound at their 9-position. Anacrotine-treated rats yielded two diastereomeric 7-ethers, showing that dehydrocrotanecine 7-conjugates had been present in the blood. The products from alkaloid-treated rats were identical with those from blood or thiol-Sepharose treated with the corresponding dehydro-alkaloids in vitro. This supported the view that proximal metabolites leading to S-binding in vivo were the dehydro-derivatives of the alkaloids. In each case the thiols were attacked by the most reactive centre of the dehydro-alkaloid: the 9-ester in dehydroheliotrine and dehydroindicine, and the 7-ester in dehydroanacrotine. Accordingly, simple chemical reactions could account for the products formed in vivo.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in human diet.

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are the leading plant toxins associated with disease in humans and animals. Upon ingestion, metabolic activation in liver converts the parent compounds into highly reactive electrophiles capable of reacting with cellular macromolecules forming adducts which may initiate acute or chronic toxicity. The pyrrolizidine alkaloids present a serious health risk to human populations that may be exposed to them through contamination of foodstuffs or when plants containing them are consumed as medicinal herbs. Some pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) adducts are persistent in animal tissue and the metabolites may be re-released and cause damage long after the initial period of ingestion. PAs are also known to act as teratogens and abortifacients. Chronic ingestion of plants containing PAs has also led to cancer in experimental animals and metabolites of several PAs have been shown to be mutagenic in the Salmonella typhimurium/mammalian microsome system. However, no clinical association has yet been found between human cancer and exposure to PAs. Based on the extensive reports on the outcome of human exposure available in the literature, we conclude that while humans face the risk of veno-occlusive disease and childhood cirrhosis PAs are not carcinogenic to humans.     

Trapping and measurement of short-lived alkylating agents in a recirculating flow system

A procedure has been developed for estimating the survival time of short-lived alkylating agents in a flow system at physiological temperature and pH. The system simulated the slow release into the bloodstream of a reactive compound formed in the liver. A solution of the reactive compound was injected slowly into a fast stream of aqueous fluid and immediately mixed. After a delay (up to 1 min) determined by a length of tube, during which hydrolysis took place, the surviving reactive compound was trapped on a column of immobilized thiol (thiol-Sepharose), and the fluid was recirculated via a reservoir. The system was used to study the hydrolysis of the pyrrolizidine alkaloid metabolites dehydromonocrotaline, dehydro-anacrotine and dehydroretrorsine. The S-bound pyrrolic moiety in the trap was measured colorimetrically and hydrolysis rates were estimated after a series of 1-h runs with different delay times. Hydrolysis of dehydroretrorsine was very rapid, whereas the hydrolysis of dehydromonocrotaline and dehydro-anacrotine fitted biphasic first-order reactions, with a faster first phase. By isolating and identifying the trapped products from dehydromoncrotaline it was shown that the two phases involved hydrolysis of the 7- and 9-ester groups, respectively. The results supported the view that a proportion of the reactive metabolites from the alkaloids monocrotaline and anacrotine would be able to survive long enough to be transported from the liver to the lungs of a rat. The flow system would be applicable to the study of other types of short-lived metabolites.     

The distribution of radioactivity in rats given [3H]bishydroxymethyl-1-methylpyrrole and its relationship to that from [3H]synthanecine a bis-N-ethylcarbamate

The distribution of radioactivity was measured in rats various times after single intravenous doses of tritium-labelled 2,3-bis-hydroxymethyl-1-methylpyrrole (BHMP). Over half the dose was excreted in urine during the first day; less than a seventh this amount was found in the faeces. The level in glandular stomach was much higher than in any other organ and there was evidence that this was related to the acidity of this tissue. With this exception, the radioactivity in other tissues was lower than after an equivalent dose of tritiated synthanecine A bis-N-ethylcarbamate, and that in liver tissue was more easily solubilised than after the latter compound. The results indicate it is unlikely that more than a small amount of free BHMP is released into the bloodstreams of rats given synthanecine A bis-N-ethylcarbamate.When [³H]BHMP is given by stomach tube much radioactivity remains within the gut and there is no exceptional binding to glandular stomach tissue. Whereas the tissue binding as well as chemical and toxicological properties of BHMP are similar to those of dehydroretronecine, the binding properties of synthanecine A bis-N-ethylcarbamate are likely to resemble those of monocrotaline and similar pyrrolizidine alkaloids.     

Species difference in the urinary excretion of isatinecic acid from the pyrrolizidine alkaloid retrorsine.

1. The urinary excretion of the metabolites, isatinecic acid and pyrrolic metabolites from the pyrrolizidine alkaloid retrosine were lower in the resistant species, guinea-pigs, than the susceptible species, mice, hamsters and rats. 2. The urinary N-oxides levels, however, were higher in guinea-pigs relative to mice, hamsters and rats. 3. These results conform to the postulate that a common metabolic pathway exists between the formation of isatinecic acid and pyrrolic metabolites. 4. The resistance of guinea-pigs to PA poisoning is attributed to the high metabolism of PAs to N-oxides combined with a corresponding low conversion to pyrrolic metabolites.     

Localization in the cell cycle of the antimitotic action of the pyrrolizidine alkaloid,lasiocarpine and of its metabolite,dehydroheliotridine

The antimitotic action of the pyrrolizidine alkaloid lasiocarpine on rat liver parenchyma was investigated using as the experimental model the wave of mitosis produced in liver by a single dose of thioacetamide. A single low dose of lasiocarpine administered two weeks before the thioacetamide, almost completely inhibited the mitotic wave without inhibiting to the same extent the preceding wave of DNA synthesis. By the use of selective inhibitors and radioisotope labelling, the location of the mitotic block was found to be either in the latter half of the DNA synthetic phase, S, or early in G₂, the post-synthetic phase. The mitotic wave was similarly inhibited by pretreatment of the rats with a single injection of dehydroheliotridine, a pyrrolic metabolite of heliotridine-based pyrrolizidine alkaloids.     

UPLC-MS based metabolomics study on Senecio scandens and S. vulgaris: an approach for the differentiation of two Senecio herbs with similar morphology but different toxicity

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids show significant hepatotoxicity as they can bind to DNA or proteins after being activated in liver. Senecio vulgaris L., like many Compositae herbs containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids, was reported to have great hepatotoxicity. However, Senicio scandens Buch.-Ham., from the same genus, which was also used as a herb and documented in China Pharmacopoeia published in 2010, hardly showed any side effects or relevant toxicity. In the present study, we conducted the metabolomics study using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) to obtain the different metabolic profiles of the two Senecio herbs. In addition, principle component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal projections to latent structures-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were introduced for the multivariate analysis, and MS/MS was applied to the identification of target alkaloid markers which contributed most to the established models. As a result, ten pyrrolizidine alkaloids, including adonifoline, senecionine, senecionine N-oxide, retrorsine, retrorsine N-oxide and seneciphylline, were selected and identified. Among them, adonifoline was found to be a specific marker for S. scandens while senecionine and its N-oxidative were characteristic markers for S. vulgaris. Furthermore, the hepatotoxicity studies in vivo and in vitro showed that senecionine had more potent toxicity (LD₅₀, 57.3?mg/kg; IC₅₀, 5.41???M) than that of adonifonine (LD₅₀, 163.3?mg/kg; IC₅₀, 49.91???M). Taken together, the present study provides not only better understanding of the different toxicity between the two Senecio herbs containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids but also a reference method, which can be applied to other genetically closed species with similar morphology but different toxicity.     

Acrolein is a mitochondrial toxin: effects on respiratory function and enzyme activities in isolated rat liver mitochondria

Acrolein is an air pollutant from cigarette smoking and other pollutions and also a by-product of lipid peroxidation. Studies have demonstrated that acrolein causes cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, including liver damage and death of hepatocytes. However, the toxic effects and the underlying mechanisms of acrolein on mitochondria, especially, on liver mitochondria, have not been well studied. In the present study, we investigated the toxic effects and mechanisms of acrolein on mitochondria isolated from rat liver by examining mitochondrial respiration, dehydrogenases, complex I, II, III, IV and V, permeability transition, and protein oxidation. Acrolein incubation (10-1000 microM, or 0.02-2 micromol/mg protein) with mitochondria caused dose-dependent inhibition of NADH- and succinate-linked mitochondrial respiration chain, change of mitochondrial permeability transition, increase in protein carbonyls, and selective enzyme inhibition of mitochondrial complex I, II, pyruvate dehydrogenase, alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, but no effects on mitochondrial complex III, IV, V and malate dehydrogenase. These results suggest that acrolein is a mitochondrial toxin and that mitochondrial dysfunction caused by acrolein may play an important role in acrolein toxicity such as hepatotoxicity and also smoking-related diseases.