DISTRIBUTION AND PHARMACOKINETICS OF ALKYLPHENOLIC COMPOUNDS IN PRIMARY MOUSE HEPATOCYTE CULTURES

In order to allow an interpretation of in vitro results on the estroge nic potency of 4-nonylphenol (NP) and 4-octylphenol (OP), their distri bution and pharmacokinetics were investigated in primary mouse hepatoc yte cultures. 10(-5) M NP and 10(-6)M OP were added to the hepatocyte cultures and incubated up to 48 h. The time course of parent NP and OP concentrations was followed with GC-MS both in the medium and in the cell fraction. Both NP and OP concentrations decreased rapidly in the cell cultures, indicating that the alkylphenols underwent a rapid meta bolism. The concentrations in the cell fractions were 100 ng NP and 2- 6 ng OP/mg cell protein after 2 h, declining to about 20 ng NP and 1-- 4 ng OP/mg cell protein, respectively, after 48 h. (C) 1998 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.