The Journal of Toxicological Sciences
Online ISSN : 1880-3989
Print ISSN : 0388-1350
ISSN-L : 0388-1350
Volume 31, Issue 5
December
Displaying 1-10 of 10 articles from this issue
Original Article
  • Koji URANO, Syuzo SUZUKI, Kazuhiko MACHIDA, Nobuko SAWA, Natsuko EGUCH ...
    2006 Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages 407-418
    Published: 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: December 29, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    We studied the effect of IC tags, subcutaneously implanted animal identification tools, on rasH2 mice. A 26-week short-term carcinogenicity study was performed on a total of 299 mice including 75 male and female rasH2 mice each, and 74 male and 75 female non-Tg mice from the same litter as the rasH2 mice divided into a non-IC tag group, the IC-tag group, acetone group, TPA group and MNU group (all of the animals except for those in the non-IC tag group) had IC tags implanted subcutaneously in their backs. The administration methods of the positive control drugs TPA (2.5 μg/kg, 3 times/week, percutaneously) and MNU (75 mg/kg, single intraperitoneal injection) were based on the protocol of the ILSI/HESI international collaborative study. The results showed no differences in the tumorigenic incidence and organs developing tumors between the IC tag and non-IC tag groups in both rasH2 and non-Tg mice. In the positive control MNU group, the tumorigenic incidence and organs developing tumors were the same as the background data and no promotion of carcinogenesis was observed. In all IC tag groups including the TPA group and MNU group, a fibrous capsule was formed around the IC tags subcutaneously, but no inflammatory changes or neoplastic changes were observed. From these findings, it was concluded that the IC tag has no effect on a 26-week carcinogenicity test of rasH2 mice under the conditions of the present study.
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  • Tamio FUKUSHIMA, Rie KIKKAWA, Yoshimasa HAMADA, Ikuo HORII
    2006 Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages 419-432
    Published: 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: December 29, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The present study was undertaken to estimate the usefulness of genomic approaches to predict hepatotoxicity. Male rats were treated with acetaminophen (APAP), carbon tetrachloride (CCL), amiodarone (AD) or tetracycline (TC) at toxic doses. Their livers were extracted 6 or 24 hr after the dosings and were used for subsequent examinations. At 6 hr there were no histological changes noted in any of the groups except for the CCL group, but at 24 hr, such changes were noted in all but the AD group. Regarding genomic analysis, we performed hierarchical cluster analysis using S-plus software. The individual microarray data were clearly classified into 5 treatment-related clusters at 24 hr as well as at 6 hr, even though no morphological changes were noted at 6 hr. In the gene expression analysis using GeneSpring, transcription factor and oxidative stress- and lipid metabolism-related genes were markedly affected in all treatment groups at both time points when compared with the corresponding control values. Finally, we investigated gene networks in the above-affected genes by using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software. Down-regulation of lipid metabolism-related genes regulated by SREBP1 was observed in all treatment groups at both time points, and up-regulation of oxidative stress-related genes regulated by Nrf2 was observed in the APAP and CCL treatment groups. From the above findings, for the application of genomic approaches to predict hepatotoxicity, we considered that cluster analysis for classification and early prediction of hepatotoxicity and network analysis for investigation of toxicological biomarkers would be useful.
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  • Naoki KIYOSAWA, Kouji SHIWAKU, Mitsuhiro HIRODE, Ko OMURA, Takeki UEHA ...
    2006 Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages 433-448
    Published: 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: December 29, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A large-scale toxicogenomcis database has now been constructed in the Toxicogenomics Project in Japan (TGP). To facilitate the analytical procedures for such large-scale microarray data, we developed a simple one-dimensional score, named TGP1 which expresses the trend of the changes in expression of biomarker genes as a whole. To evaluate the usefulness of the TGP1 score, microarray data of rat liver and rat hepatocytes deposited in the TGP database were scored for three biomarker gene sets, i.e., carcinogenesis-related, PPARα-regulated and glutathione depletion-related gene sets. The TGP1 scoring system gave reasonable results, i.e., the scores for carcinogenesis-related genes were high in omeprazole-, chlorpromazine-, hexachlorobenzene-, sulfasalazine- and Wy-14,643-treated rat livers, that for PPARα-regulated genes were high in clofibrate-, Wy-14,643-, gemfibrozil-, benzbromarone- and aspirin-treated rat livers as well as rat hepatocytes, and for glutathione deficiency-related genes were high in omeprazole-, bromobenzene-, acetaminophen- and coumarin-treated rat liver. We concluded that the TGP1 score is useful for surveying the expression changes in multiple biomarker gene sets for a large-scale toxicogenomics database, which would reduce the time of doing conventional multivariate statistical analysis. In addition, the TGP1 score can be applied to screening of compatible biomarker gene sets between rat liver and rat hepatocytes, like PPARα-regulated gene sets, which will allow us to develop an appropriate in vitro system for drug safety assessment in vivo.
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  • Kotaro TAMURA, Atsushi ONO, Toshikazu MIYAGISHIMA, Taku NAGAO, Tetsuro ...
    2006 Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages 449-469
    Published: 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: December 29, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The aim of this study was to compare gene expression profiles in the different kidney regions as the basis for toxicogenomics. Rat kidney was separated into papilla, medulla and cortex, and total RNA was isolated from these and from the whole slice. Gene expression profiling was performed using Affymetrix Rat Genome 230 2.0 Array. When global normalization was applied, the expression of β-actin or GAPDH varied among the regions. It was considered that such a comparison could not be made, especially between papilla and other portions, since the production of total mRNA in the former was relatively low. In fact, ANOVA was performed on the gene expression values with global normalization in papilla, medulla, cortex, and whole slice, and the numbers of genes appeared to be the highest in papilla. It was also observed that many genes showed their maximum or minimum in the whole slice, which was theoretically impossible. To overcome the problems associated with global normalization, the "percellome" normalization (a way to obtain the values directly related to the copies of mRNA per cell) was employed to compare the regions. In applying this procedure, probe sets with regional difference in expression were efficiently extracted by ANOVA. When they were sorted by the fold difference to other regions, the higher rank was occupied by genes characteristic of the functions of kidney, i.e., channels, transporters and metabolic enzymes. Some of them were consistent with the literature and were related to pathophysiological phenomena. Comprehensive comparison of data of gene expression in the renal anatomical area will greatly enhance studies of the physiological function and mechanism of toxicity in kidney.
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  • Kotaro TAMURA, Atsushi ONO, Toshikazu MIYAGISHIMA, Taku NAGAO, Tetsuro ...
    2006 Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages 471-490
    Published: 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: December 29, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The Toxicogenomics project has been constructing a large-scale database of about 150 compounds exposed to rat (single dose, 3, 6, 9, 24 hrs and repeated dose for 3, 7, 14 28 days with 3 dose levels) and rat hepatocytes (2, 8, 24 hr with 3 concentrations) and data of transcriptome in liver using GeneChip, and the related toxicological measures are being accumulated. In the present study, the data of three ligands of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor α (PPARα), i.e., clofibrate, WY-14643 and gemfibrozil in our database were analyzed. Many of the β-oxidation-related genes were commonly induced in vivo and in vitro, whereas expression changes in genes related to cell proliferation, apoptosis, were detected in vivo (single and repeated dose) but not in vitro. Changes in those related to the immune response, coagulation and the stress response were also detectable exclusively in vivo. Using the genes mobilized in two or three PPARα agonists, hierarchical clustering was performed on 32 compounds stored in our database. In the profiling of an in vivo single dose, benzbromarone and aspirin were located in the same cluster of the three PPARα agonists. The clustering of in vitro data revealed that benzbromarone, three NSAIDs (aspirin, indomethacin and diclofenac sodium) and valproic acid belonged to the same cluster of PPARα agonists, supporting the reports that benzbromarone,valproic acid and some NSAIDs were reported to be PPARα agonists. Using the genes commonly up-regulated both in vivo and in vitro, principal component analysis was performed in 32 compounds, and principal component 1 was found to be the convenient parameter to extract PPARα agonist-like compounds from the database.
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  • Katsumi MORISHITA, Yumiko MIZUKAWA, Toshihiko KASAHARA, Manabu OKUYAMA ...
    2006 Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages 491-507
    Published: 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: December 29, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    - In order to verify the influence of the rat age on hepatotoxicity, male Sprague-Dawley rats of 6 (young) and 12 (adult) weeks of age were orally administered acetaminophen (APAP), isoniazid (INH), or carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). Liver samples were obtained in a time-course manner, and changes in gene expression examined by an Affymetrix GeneChip. APAP caused more prominent hepatic injury with respect to pathology and blood biochemistry in adults than in young rats, whereas no obvious age-related differences were observed in INH- or CCl4-treated rats. Comparing gene expression in control rats, CYP3A13 was higher and GSTY2c was lower in adults, suggesting that production of the active metabolite of APAP is higher and its detoxification is lower in adults. The total amount of glutathione and total SH in rat liver was found to be higher in adult rats whereas the extent of its reduction by APAP was larger in adults. A detailed analysis of genes showing age-related differences revealed that some of them were different not in their extent but in their time course, i.e., the stress responses occurred earlier in the young than in the adult, resulting in a difference at 24 hr after dosing. These results suggest that the age-related difference in toxicity would be attributed to a higher expression of CYP3A13, producing the active metabolite of APAP as well as the lower expression of the detoxification enzyme, GSTY2c, in adult rats. Furthermore, these differences affect the time course of APAP toxicity. The present study clearly depicts the advantage of the multi-time, multi-dose protocol employed in our project for analyzing the mechanism of toxicity by gene expression profiling.
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  • Toshihiko KASAHARA, Toshiko MIYAZAKI, Hiroyuki NITTA, Atsushi ONO, Tos ...
    2006 Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages 509-519
    Published: 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: December 29, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In The Toxicogenomics Project, about 150 chemicals are administered to rats, and gene expression in the liver analyzed by Affymetrix GeneChip and stored in the database. As the quality of RNA greatly influences the accuracy of gene expression data, conditions of the storage of the sample are very important. Recently, an RNA stabilization solution, RNAlater®, has become commercially available. In this study, the new storage method was compared with the traditional storage method (stored in freezer or liquid nitrogen) under various conditions by looking at the degradation of RNA assessed by its total yield, OD260/280 ratio, 28S/18S ratio, and quantity of β-actin. It was confirmed that RNAlater® preserved the liver tissue sample by maintaining the quality of RNA for one year (in liquid N2 or −80°C), for 3 days (4°C), or for 2 hr (room temperature) without degradation of RNA. Quality of RNA samples dissolved in buffer RLT and stored at −20°C tended to decrease, but samples stored at −80°C were almost equivalent to those stored in liquid nitrogen. In conclusion, we recommend the following procedure for preservation of liver tissue for extraction of RNA: 1) tissues removed should be put into chilled RNAlater® as soon as possible; 2) samples in RNAlater ® must be stored overnight or longer at 4°C and can be left for as long as 2 weeks without freezing; 3) samples in RNAlater® can be stored for at least one year under less than −20°C and 4) samples dissolved in buffer RLT can be preserved at least for one year under −80°C.
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  • Nahid AKHTAR, Mithilesh Kumar SRIVASTAVA, Rajendra Behari RAIZADA
    2006 Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages 521-527
    Published: 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: December 29, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Rats were orally fed with different doses viz. 9.6, 12 and 15mg/kg/d from GD 0-20 and examined for evidence of fetotoxicity and teratogenecity to evaluate the potential effects of technical chlorpyrifos (97%). Fetotoxic effects were not observed at tested dose levels as evidenced by number of implantations, number of corpora lutea and live fetuses/dam, but significant alterations were noted in percent δ resorption and fetal weight. There were no major malformations, but some minor anomalies such as reduced parietal ossification and absence of phalanges found significant in high dose were not considered as compound-related effects. On the other hand the accumulation of chlorpyrifos residue in dams was more in brain (0.0328 μg/g) than in liver (0.0071 μg/g).The level of residue in fetuses was in the following order : liver (0.0531 μg/g) > brain (0.0364 μg/g) >placenta (0.040 μg/g) > amniotic fluid (0.0010 μg/g). Although, the total residue was higher in fetuses (0.0447 μg/g) than in dams (0.0120 μg/g), the absence of abnormalities in fetal gross morphology, visceral and skeleton suggest that technical chlorpyrifos at tested dose levels is non-teratogenic in rats.
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  • Choong-Yong KIM, Sang-Seop HAN
    2006 Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages 529-535
    Published: 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: December 29, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The profiles of home cage locomotor activity and its rhythmicity were investigated using a camera system for 4 consecutive days in cynomolgus monkeys. Nine male and nine female cynomolgus monkeys were used in this study, and were found to have the same profile in nocturnal behavior in that they were mostly inactive during the night. The locomotor activity of both sexes showed a normal activity and inactivity rhythm, which had an inverse relationship between normal activity and inactivity, showing a fluctuation profile of being higher in the light cycle and lower in the dark cycle. The four-day locomotion time of the females was higher than that of the males in the dark period. The females also showed a higher locomotion count and D/L ratio in the dark period than the males during the 4 consecutive days. These findings indicate that the females have greater locomotor activity in the dark period than that of the males. The present findings may serve as useful basic data for the behavioral assessment of overall animal movements in toxicological studies using monkeys.
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