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In Vitro Metabolism of Aflatoxin B₂ by Animal and Human Liver¹

Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

The metabolism of aflatoxin B₂ by postmitochondrial supernatant ractions of duck, rat, mouse, and human livers was studied in an in vitro system. Duck liver had a much higher level of activity than had tissues from other species. Postmitochondrial supernatant equivalent to 0.2 g whole liver metabolized 40 to 80% of the initial substrate in 30 min, compared to < 6% for the other specles. Among several metabolites formed by duck liver, aflatoxin B₁ was produced in amounts equivalent to 2 to 8% of the initial substrate, and metabolites having chromatographic properties postulated for aflatoxicols 1 and 2 and aflatoxins M₁ and M₂ were also formed in small amounts. In contrast, rat, mouse, and human liver preparations produced no detectable aflatoxin B₁ and only small amounts of compounds thought to be aflatoxins Q₂ and P₂. The greater susceptibility of duck liver to the toxicity of aflatoxin B₂ may be attributable to its ability to form aflatoxin B₁, which could then be activated through further metabolism.

¹ Financial support was provided by NIH Grants 5 PO1 ES 00597 and 5 TO1 ES 00056 and Contract NO1 CP 43265. Preliminary accounts of this work were presented at the 66th Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, Inc., May 7 to 11, 1975, San Diego, Calif. (10).

² Present address: Department of Pathology, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, N. H. 03755.

³ Present address: University of California at San Diego Medical School, San Diego, Calif. 92115.

⁴ To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 56–215, Cambridge, Mass. 02139.

Received 9/12/77. Accepted 1/13/78.