0000000000133008
AUTHOR
H. W. Rüdiger
Metabolites of diethylstilboestrol induce sister chromatid exchange in human cultured fibroblasts
Diethylstilboesterol (DES) is one of the few substances for which a clear association with carcinogenicity has been established in man. Nevertheless, it is still widely used, mainly as a cheap oestrogen to increase the slaughter weight of beef, but in spite of this it is not known if residues in the meat or metabolites excreted by the cattle are hazardous to man. It is also unknown whether there is a threshold dose below which DES is harmless. A threshold might be expected if a hormonal mechanism of carcinogensis rather than metabolic activation to an electrophically reactive species operats. This possibility was supported by the observations that DES, in contrast to most other carcinogens,…
INTERINDIVIDUAL VARIATIONS OF EPOXIDE HYDRATASE ACTIVITY IN HUMAN LIVER AND LUNG BIOPSIES, LYMPHOCYTES AND FIBROBLAST CULTURES
Publisher Summary Most pharmaceuticals, toxic compounds, mutagens, and carcinogens undergo metabolism in the human body. Differences in drug metabolizing enzymes cause differences in susceptibility towards effects or side effects of these compounds. This chapter presents a comparison of epoxide hydratase (EH) activity in human individuals. Activities were measured in biopsy samples of liver, which is the main site of drug metabolism, and of lung, which is an organ that is continually exposed to potential enzyme inducers and to carcinogenic compounds. EH was studied in native lymphocytes, cultured lymphocytes, and fibroblasts in which environmental influences can be controlled and the geneti…