Toxicokinetic interaction between hepatic disposition and pulmonary bioactivation of inhaled naphthalene studied using CYP2AbFGS-Null and CYP2A13/2F1-humanized mice with deficient hepatic cytochrome P450 activity

Previous studies using Cyp2abfgs-null (lacking all genes of the Cyp2a, 2b, 2f, 2g, and 2s subfamilies), CYP2A13/2F1-humanized, and liver-Cpr-null (LCN) mice showed that although hepatic cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes are essential for systemic clearance of inhaled naphthalene (a possible human carcinogen), both hepatic and extrahepatic P450 enzymes may contribute to naphthalene-induced lung toxicity via bioactivation. Herein, we aimed to further understand the toxicokinetics of inhaled naphthalene in order to provide a basis for predicting the effects of variations in rates of xenobiotic disposition on the extent of target tissue bioactivation. We assessed the impact of a hepatic deficit in naphthalene metabolism on the toxicokinetics of inhaled naphthalene using newly generated Cyp2abfgs-null-and-LCN and CYP2A13/2F1-humanized-and-LCN mice. We determined plasma, lung, and liver levels of naphthalene and naphthalene-glutathione conjugate, a biomarker of naphthalene bioactivation, over time after naphthalene inhalation. We found that the loss of hepatic naphthalene metabolism severely decreased naphthalene systemic clearance and caused naphthalene to accumulate in the liver and other tissues. Naphthalene release from tissue, as evidenced by the continued increase in plasma naphthalene levels after termination of active inhalation exposure, was accompanied by prolonged bioactivation of naphthalene in the lung. In addition, transgenic expression of human CYP2A13/2F1 in the respiratory tract caused a reduction in plasma naphthalene levels (by 40%, relative to Cyp2abfgs-null-and-LCN mice) and corresponding decreases in naphthalene-glutathione levels in the lung in mice with hepatic P450 deficiency, despite the increase in local naphthalene-bioactivating P450 activity. Thus, the bioavailability of naphthalene in the target tissue has a significant effect on the extent of naphthalene bioactivation in the lung.