BENZO[A]PYRENE METABOLISM AND EXCRETION IN WHITE SUCKERS WITH CHRONICLIVER-DISEASES

Wild white suckers (Catostomus commersoni) with diseased bile ducts ex creted an oral dose of benzo[alpha]pyrene (BaP) into their bile as glu curonide, glutathione, and sulfo-conjugates at twice the rate (16.76 n mol/h) of an unaffected reference population (7.52 nmol/h). BaP-hydrox ylase (10% higher in the diseased population), glutathione-S-transfera se (similar), or uridine-5'-diphosphoglucuronic acid transferase (50% lower) levels did not correlate with these excretion rates. Metabolite levels were 57% higher in the liver of affected suckers than those in the liver of reference suckers, which might be due to bile retention within the diseased bile ducts. The bile duct disease affecting white suckers does not appear to restrict the metabolism and excretion of Ba P.