Adducts of Dienochlor Miticide with Glutathione, Glutathione S-Transferases, and Hemoglobins

Dienochlor (Pentac) (C10Cl10) has been used for 30 years as a miticide with little knowledge of its mode of action or metabolic fate except that it is quickly degraded by rats. This study examines the reactions of dienochlor with GSH and proteins as models for its metabolism and interactions with tissues. Dienochlor reacts rapidly with 1.0 mM GSH in phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) at 37 degrees C (t1/2 approximately 11 min) as analyzed by UV/visible spectroscopy and HPLC, yielding a series of more than a dozen adducts. Octachlorofulvalene (C10Cl8), a candidate intermediate, also reacts to give the same apparent products (t1/2 < 0.2 min as above); however, its intermediacy in the dienochlor reaction was not established. Isolation and MS analyses characterized two isomeric C10H2Cl(SG)5 adducts and a C10H2(SG)6 derivative; these products react further in the presence of GSH to yield two even more polar adducts. Cysteine and N-acetylcysteine also react rapidly with dienochlor whereas GSSG and several non-thiol amino acids are much less reactive. Purified GSH S-transferases (GSTs) and hemoglobins, each from six species of mammals including humans, are extensively labeled in vitro by [14C]dienochlor to form adducts separable by gel electrophoresis and HPLC. [14C]Dienochlor readily derivatizes rat liver GSTs even in cytosol and in the presence of high GSH levels. The potency of dienochlor for inhibition of GST activity is maintained or enhanced upon conversion to GSH adducts.