Effects of benfluron and its two metabolites on respiratory processes in P388 murine leukemia and Ehrlich ascites cells

This paper presents data on the effects of benfluron and its two metabolites DBF and NOBF on both endogenous and exogenous, respiration in the presence of succinate as substrate, of both P388 murine leukemia and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells. The most efficient inhibitors of endogenous and exogenous respiration were benfluron and DBF. NOBF did not interfere with respiratory processes in Ehrlich cells, even at quite high concentration. BF and DBF exert an almost identical inhibitory effect on exogenous respiration, the least effective being NOBF (Ehrlich cells). The decrease in the respiratory rates in cancer cells might be due to the effects of benfluron and its metabolites on the cell membrane. P388 murine leukemia cells are less "sensitive" than Ehrlich ascites cells.