Elsevier

Toxicology

Volume 30, Issue 2, March 1984, Pages 177-184
Toxicology

Toxicity-distribution relationships among 3-alkylfurans in the mouse lung

https://doi.org/10.1016/0300-483X(84)90128-8Get rights and content

Abstract

The present study was designed to investigate the extent to which a homologous series of 3-alkyfurans, 3-methylfuran, 3-ethylfuran, and 3-pentylfuran, may cause lung injury in mice in order to determine whether the chemical properties of these compounds are related to their toxic potential. The pulmonary concentration and pneumotoxicity of these and various other furan derivatives were also measured to determine if a correlation existed between the magnitude of pneumotoxicity produced by these toxins and their concentration in the lung. Along with the 3-alkylfurans, the other furan derivatives investigated were furan, 2-ethylfuran, 2-furmaide, and 3-methylthiophene. The absence or presence of lung damage was evaluated by light microscopy. The quantitative index used to assess and rank the compounds as pneumotoxins was the incorporation of [14C]thymidine into DNA. The results obtained with the 3-alkylfurans showed that 3-methylfuran and 3-ethylfuran were toxic to the lung whereas 3-pentylfuran did not produce pneumotoxicity. 2-Ethylfuran, furan, and 2-furamide also caused lung damage but 3-methylthiophene did not. All the compound, with the exception of furan, reach the lung in comparable concentrations; therefore, there does not seem to be a correlation between pneumotoxicity and concentration of the toxin in the lung. From these studies, it is alos apparent that but that the toxicity decreases with increasing chain length.

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  • A 90-day subchronic gavage toxicity study in Fischer 344 rats with 3-methylfuran

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    Until recently, little attention had been paid to the effects and presence of methylfurans in foods until 2-methylfuran and 3-methylfuran were identified to be potent hepatotoxins (Wiley et al., 1984; Ravindranath et al., 1984; Ravindranath and Boyd, 1991). Little toxicological information was available for 3-methylfuran and in most of the available studies, the route of administration was by inhalation (Haschek et al., 1983;1984; Morse et al., 1984; Gammal et al., 1984) or intraperitoneal injection. With inhalation studies, furan, 2-methylfuran and 3-methylfuran were found to induce pulmonary, nasal and kidney toxicity (Gammal et al., 1984; Haschek et al., 1983;1984; Morse et al., 1984; Ravindranath et al., 1984; Witschi et al., 1985).

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Presented at the 21st Annual Meeting, Society of Toxicology, Boston, MA 1982.

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