Dose Dependence of Covalent Binding of Acrylonitrile to Tissue Protein and Globin in Rats

The dose dependence of acrylonitrile (AN) covalent binding to tissue protein, following a single acute exposure over a 100-fold range in dose, was measured. Covalent binding was a linear function of AN dose in the lower dose range (0.02–0.95 mmol AN/kg). The slopes of the dose–response curves indicated that tissues varied by nearly 10-fold in their reactivity with AN. The relative order of covalent binding was as follows: blood ⪢ kidney = liver > forestomach = brain > glandular stomach ⪢ muscle. Similar dose–response behavior was observed for globin total covalent binding and for globinN-(2-cyanoethyl)valine (CEValine) adduct formation. The latter adduct was found to represent only 0.2% of the total AN adduction to globin. Regression of tissue protein binding versus globin total covalent binding or globin CEValine adduct indicated that both globin biomarkers could be used as surrogates to estimate the amount of AN bound to tissue protein. At higher AN doses, above approximately 1 mmol/kg, a sharp break in the covalent binding dose–response curve was observed. This knot value is explained by the nearly complete depletion of liver glutathione and the resultant termination of AN detoxification. The toxicity of AN is known to increase sharply above this dose. The data suggest that a comparison of specific tissue proteins labeled by AN above and below this threshold dose may provide some insight into the mechanism of AN-induced toxicity.