Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Inhibition Of Alcohol Dehydrogenase Activity By Acetylenic And Allylic Alcohols: Concordance With In Vivo Electrophile Reactivity In Fish, Steven P. Bradbury, Glenn M. Christensen

Steven P. Bradbury

Acetylenic and al!ylic alcohols have been reported to be 20 to 5,000 times more acutely toxic to fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) than would be expected from a narcosis-based mechanism of action. The greater-than-expected toxicity of these alcohols has been proposed to be a result of metabolic activation to the corresponding reactive a ,)3-unsaturated aldehydes or allene derivatives. Using purified horse liver and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) hepatic cytosol alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) preparations, the propensity of a series of acetylenic and allylic alcohols to inhibit enzyme activity, in both the presence and the absence of reduced glutathione, was ascertained. Those alcohols …