Justin G. Teeguarden

Development of a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model for assessment of human exposure to bisphenol A

A previously developed physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model for bisphenol A (BPA) in adult rhesus monkeys was modified to characterize the pharmacokinetics of BPA and its phase II conjugates in adult humans following oral ingestion. Coupled with in vitro studies on BPA metabolism in the liver and the small intestine, the PBPK model was parameterized using oral pharmacokinetic data with deuterated-BPA (d6-BPA) delivered in cookies to adult humans after overnight fasting. The availability of the serum concentration time course of unconjugated d6-BPA offered direct empirical evidence for the calibration of BPA model parameters. The recalibrated PBPK adult human model for BPA was then evaluated against published human pharmacokinetic studies with BPA. A hypothesis of decreased oral uptake was needed to account for the reduced peak levels observed in adult humans, where d6-BPA was delivered in soup and food was provided prior to BPA ingestion, suggesting the potential impact of dosing vehicles and/or fasting on BPA disposition. With the incorporation of Monte Carlo analysis, the recalibrated adult human model was used to address the inter-individual variability in the internal dose metrics of BPA for the U.S. general population. Model-predicted peak BPA serum levels were in the range of pM, with 95% of human variability falling within an order of magnitude. This recalibrated PBPK model for BPA in adult humans provides a scientific basis for assessing human exposure to BPA that can serve to minimize uncertainties incurred during extrapolations across doses and species.

Urine and serum biomonitoring of exposure to environmental estrogens I: Bisphenol A in pregnant women.

Despite its very low oral bioavailability and rapid elimination, multiple reports of unexpectedly high bisphenol A (BPA) concentrations in the serum of pregnant mothers or cord blood have raised questions about BPA exposures during pregnancy. Thirty healthy pregnant women recruited to the study were evaluated for total BPA exposure over a 30-h period comprising one-half day in the field and one day in a clinical setting. BPA and its metabolites were measured in serum and total BPA was measured in matching urine samples. The mean total exposure was similar to the 50(th) percentile of exposure for U.S. women and pregnant women in a large North American cohort. Twenty volunteers had total daily exposures equal to or exceeding the U.S. mean, and six volunteers had exposures exceeding the 75th percentile. Women working as cashiers did not have higher total BPA exposure. BPA was detected in some serum samples (0.25-0.51xa0ng/ml), but showed no relationship to total BPA in corresponding urine samples, no relationship to total BPA exposure, and had unconjugated BPA fractions of 60-80%, consistent with established criteria for sample contamination. We conclude that typical exposures of North American pregnant women produce internal exposures to BPA in the picomolar range.

SPE-IMS-MS: An automated platform for sub-sixty second surveillance of endogenous metabolites and xenobiotics in biofluids

Characterization of endogenous metabolites and xenobiotics is essential to deconvoluting the genetic and environmental causes of disease. However, surveillance of chemical exposure and disease-related changes in large cohorts requires an analytical platform that offers rapid measurement, high sensitivity, efficient separation, broad dynamic range, and application to an expansive chemical space. Here, we present a novel platform for small molecule analyses that addresses these requirements by combining solid-phase extraction with ion mobility spectrometry and mass spectrometry (SPE-IMS-MS). This platform is capable of performing both targeted and global measurements of endogenous metabolites and xenobiotics in human biofluids with high reproducibility (CV 6 3%), sensitivity (LODs in the pM range in biofluids) and throughput (10-s sample-to-sample duty cycle). We report application of this platform to the analysis of human urine from patients with and without type 1 diabetes, where we observed statistically significant variations in the concentration of disaccharides and previously unreported chemical isomers. This SPE-IMS-MS platform overcomes many of the current challenges of large-scale metabolomic and exposomic analyses and offers a viable option for population and patient cohort screening in an effort to gain insights into disease processes and human environmental chemical exposure.

Passive samplers accurately predict PAH levels in resident crayfish.

Contamination of resident aquatic organisms is a major concern for environmental risk assessors. However, collecting organisms to estimate risk is often prohibitively time and resource-intensive. Passive sampling accurately estimates resident organism contamination, and it saves time and resources. This study used low density polyethylene (LDPE) passive water samplers to predict polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) levels in signal crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus. Resident crayfish were collected at 5 sites within and outside of the Portland Harbor Superfund Megasite (PHSM) in the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. LDPE deployment was spatially and temporally paired with crayfish collection. Crayfish visceral and tail tissue, as well as water-deployed LDPE, were extracted and analyzed for 62 PAHs using GC-MS/MS. Freely-dissolved concentrations (Cfree) of PAHs in water were calculated from concentrations in LDPE. Carcinogenic risks were estimated for all crayfish tissues, using benzo[a]pyrene equivalent concentrations (BaPeq). ∑PAH were 5-20 times higher in viscera than in tails, and ∑BaPeq were 6-70 times higher in viscera than in tails. Eating only tail tissue of crayfish would therefore significantly reduce carcinogenic risk compared to also eating viscera. Additionally, PAH levels in crayfish were compared to levels in crayfish collected 10 years earlier. PAH levels in crayfish were higher upriver of the PHSM and unchanged within the PHSM after the 10-year period. Finally, a linear regression model predicted levels of 34 PAHs in crayfish viscera with an associated R-squared value of 0.52 (and a correlation coefficient of 0.72), using only the Cfree PAHs in water. On average, the model predicted PAH concentrations in crayfish tissue within a factor of 2.4 ± 1.8 of measured concentrations. This affirms that passive water sampling accurately estimates PAH contamination in crayfish. Furthermore, the strong predictive ability of this simple model suggests that it could be easily adapted to predict contamination in other shellfish of concern.

Urine and serum biomonitoring of exposure to environmental estrogens II: Soy isoflavones and zearalenone in pregnant women.

UNLABELLEDnUrine and serum biomonitoring was used to measure internal exposure to selected dietary estrogens in a cohort of 30 pregnant women. Exposure was measured over a period comprising one-half day in the field (6xa0h) and one day in a clinic (24xa0h). Biomonitoring of the dietary phytoestrogens genistein (GEN), daidzein (DDZ) and equol (EQ), as well as the mycoestrogen, zearalenone (ZEN) and its congeners, was conducted using UPLC-MS/MS. Biomonitoring revealed evidence of internal exposure to naturally occurring dietary estrogens during pregnancy. Urinary concentrations of total GEN, DDZ and EQ were similar to levels reported for general adult U.S.nnnPOPULATIONnMeasurable concentrations of total (parent and metabolites) GEN, DDZ and EQ were present in 240, 207 and 2 of 270 serum samples, respectively. Six out of 30 subjects had measurable concentrations of unconjugated GEN and/or DDZ in serum between 0.6 and 7.1xa0nM. Urine to serum total isoflavone ratios for GEN, DDZ and EQ were 13, 47, and 180, respectively. ZEN and its reductive metabolite, α-zearalenol (α-ZEL), were present in pregnant women (11 out of 30 subjects) as conjugates at levels near the limit of quantification. The average total urinary concentration was 0.10xa0μg/L for ZEN and 0.11xa0μg/L for α-ZEL.

24-hour human urine and serum profiles of bisphenol A following ingestion in soup: Individual pharmacokinetic data and emographics.

Here we present data to evaluate potential absorption of Bisphenol A through non-metabolizing tissues of the upper digestive tract. Concurrent serum and urine concentrations of d6-BPA, and its glucuronide and sulfate conjugates, were measured over a 24 h period in 10 adult male volunteers following ingestion of 30 μg d6-BPA/kg body weight in soup. The pharmacokinetic behavior of BPA and its metabolites in this cohort (rapid absorption, complete elimination, evidence against sublingual absorption) was reported. This Data in Brief article contains the corresponding individual pharmacokinetic data, reports the demographics of the cohort and provides additional details related to the analytical methods employed and is related to [4].

ISD3: a particokinetic model for predicting the combined effects of particle sedimentation, diffusion and dissolution on cellular dosimetry for in vitro systems

BackgroundThe development of particokinetic models describing the delivery of insoluble or poorly soluble nanoparticles to cells in liquid cell culture systems has improved the basis for dose-response analysis, hazard ranking from high-throughput systems, and now allows for translation of exposures across in vitro and in vivo test systems. Complimentary particokinetic models that address processes controlling delivery of both particles and released ions to cells, and the influence of particle size changes from dissolution on particle delivery for cell-culture systems would help advance our understanding of the role of particles and ion dosimetry on cellular toxicology. We developed ISD3, an extension of our previously published model for insoluble particles, by deriving a specific formulation of the Population Balance Equation for soluble particles.ResultsISD3 describes the time, concentration and particle size dependent dissolution of particles, their delivery to cells, and the delivery and uptake of ions to cells in in vitro liquid test systems. We applied the model to calculate the particle and ion dosimetry of nanosilver and silver ions in vitro after calibration of two empirical models, one for particle dissolution and one for ion uptake. Total media ion concentration, particle concentration and total cell-associated silver time-courses were well described by the model, across 2 concentrations of 20 and 110xa0nm particles. ISD3 was calibrated to dissolution data for 20xa0nm particles as a function of serum protein concentration, but successfully described the media and cell dosimetry time-course for both particles at all concentrations and time points. We also report the finding that protein content in media affects the initial rate of dissolution and the resulting near-steady state ion concentration in solution for the systems we have studied.ConclusionsBy combining experiments and modeling, we were able to quantify the influence of proteins on silver particle solubility, determine the relative amounts of silver ions and particles in exposed cells, and demonstrate the influence of particle size changes resulting from dissolution on particle delivery to cells in culture. ISD3 is modular and can be adapted to new applications by replacing descriptions of dissolution, sedimentation and boundary conditions with those appropriate for particles other than silver.

PIXiE: an algorithm for automated ion mobility arrival time extraction and collision cross section calculation using global data association

Motivation: Drift tube ion mobility spectrometry coupled with mass spectrometry (DTIMS‐MS) is increasingly implemented in high throughput omics workflows, and new informatics approaches are necessary for processing the associated data. To automatically extract arrival times for molecules measured by DTIMS at multiple electric fields and compute their associated collisional cross sections (CCS), we created the PNNL Ion Mobility Cross Section Extractor (PIXiE). The primary application presented for this algorithm is the extraction of data that can then be used to create a reference library of experimental CCS values for use in high throughput omics analyses. Results: We demonstrate the utility of this approach by automatically extracting arrival times and calculating the associated CCSs for a set of endogenous metabolites and xenobiotics. The PIXiE‐generated CCS values were within error of those calculated using commercially available instrument vendor software. Availability and implementation: PIXiE is an open‐source tool, freely available on Github. The documentation, source code of the software, and a GUI can be found at https://github.com/PNNL‐Comp‐Mass‐Spec/PIXiE and the source code of the backend workflow library used by PIXiE can be found at https://github.com/PNNL‐Comp‐Mass‐Spec/IMS‐Informed‐Library. Contact: erin.baker@pnnl.gov or thomas.metz@pnnl.gov Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Comparative estrogenicity of endogenous, environmental and dietary estrogens in pregnant women I: Serum levels, variability and the basis for urinary biomonitoring of serum estrogenicity

Biomonitoring of human exposure to estrogens most frequently focuses on environmental and dietary estrogens, and infrequently includes measures of exposure to potent endogenous estrogens present in serum. Pregnancy is a developmentally sensitive period during which added serum estrogenicity exceeding normal intra-individual daily variability may be of particular relevance. We made repeated measurements of serum concentrations of estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), estriol (E3), estetrol (E4), daidzein (DDZ), genistein (GEN) and bisphenol A (BPA) in thirty pregnant women using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry detection (UPLC-MS/MS) and electrospray ionization (ESI). Serum E1, E2, and E3 concentrations varied significantly (coefficients of variation 9-10%) with broad ranges across the cohort: 1.61-85.1u202fnM, 9.09-69.7u202fnM, and 1.5-36.3u202fnM respectively. BPA (undetected, estimated from total exposure), DDZ and GEN concentrations were 1-5 orders of magnitude lower. The 24-h urinary elimination profiles of endogenous estrogens were each strongly correlated with their corresponding serum concentrations (Pearsons Correlation Coefficients of 0.83 (E1), 0.84 (E2) and 0.94 (E3)). A multivariate regression analysis produced equations for estimating serum concentrations of E1, E2, E3, E4, GEN and DDZ from urinary elimination rates and gestation period, an important step towards non-invasive biomonitoring for assessment of added estrogenicity during pregnancy.

Multiscale Toxicology- Building the Next Generation Tools for Toxicology

A Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) was sponsored by Battelle Memorial Institute (Battelle, Columbus), to initiate a collaborative research program across multiple Department of Energy (DOE) National Laboratories aimed at developing a suite of new capabilities for predictive toxicology. Predicting the potential toxicity of emerging classes of engineered nanomaterials was chosen as one of two focusing problems for this program. PNNL’s focus toward this broader goal was to refine and apply experimental and computational tools needed to provide quantitative understanding of nanoparticle dosimetry for in vitro cell culture systems, which is necessary for comparative risk estimates for different nanomaterials or biological systems. Research conducted using lung epithelial and macrophage cell models successfully adapted magnetic particle detection and fluorescent microscopy technologies to quantify uptake of various forms of engineered nanoparticles, and provided experimental constraints and test datasets for benchmark comparison against results obtained using an in vitro computational dosimetry model, termed the ISSD model. The experimental and computational approaches developed were used to demonstrate how cell dosimetry is applied to aid in interpretation of genomic studies of nanoparticle-mediated biological responses in model cell culture systems. The combined experimental and theoretical approach provides a highly quantitative framework for evaluating relationships between morexa0» biocompatibility of nanoparticles and their physical form in a controlled manner. «xa0less