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Benzene increases the ratio of arachidonic acids to docosahexaenoic acids and inhibits the de novo synthesis of ceramide in the rat liver
Author(s) -
Sul Donggeun,
Shim Ilsub,
Im Hosub,
Won NamHee,
Kim HaeJoon,
Lee Eunil
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of applied toxicology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.784
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1099-1263
pISSN - 0260-437X
DOI - 10.1002/jat.1042
Subject(s) - benzene , arachidonic acid , docosahexaenoic acid , ceramide , sphingomyelin , fatty acid , chemistry , biochemistry , medicine , endocrinology , polyunsaturated fatty acid , cholesterol , biology , organic chemistry , enzyme , apoptosis
The present study investigated the effects of inhalation exposure of benzene at 0, 10, 200 and 600 ppm for 1, 2 and 4 weeks on n‐6 and n‐3 fatty acids and ceramide levels in the rat liver. No signicant difference in the ratio of saturated fatty acid to unsaturated fatty acid was found on increasing benzene exposure levels, but the ratio of saturated fatty acid to unsaturated fatty acid decreased with increasing benzene exposure times, with the exception of the phospholipids of rats exposed to 200 and 600 ppm of benzene. A signicant increase in the ratio of arachidonic acid to docosahexaenoic acid was found in the phospholipids of rats exposed to 200 and 600 ppm of benzene for 4 weeks. In our study, no change in the relative amounts of sphingomyelin in phospholipids, due to benzene exposure at 600 ppm for 4 weeks resulted in the lack of sphingomyelin turnover. However, ceramide levels in the livers of rats exposed to 600 ppm of benzene for 4 weeks were signicantly reduced upon increasing the benzene concentration. This result shows that the de novo synthesis of ceramide was signicantly inhibited at higher levels of benzene and that the ratio of arachidonic acid to docosahexaenoic acid in phospholipids is dose‐dependently related to benzene exposure. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.