Title: Application of the CALUX bioassay for quantification of dioxin-likecompounds in small amounts of human milk and blood plasma

Auteur(s): Aarts JMMJG ; Cenijn PH ; Blankvoort BMG ; Murk AJ ; Brouwer A ; Bovee TFH ; Traag WA ; Hoogenboom LAP ; Patandin S ; Weisglas-Kuperus N ; Sauer PJJ ; Denison MS ;  ; 

Year: 1996

Journal: Organohalogen Compounds

Subject(s): blood plasma ; CALUX ; human milk ; polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons ; polychlorinated ; polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins ; PCBs ; PCB ; food ; milk ; dioxin-like compounds ; Ah receptor ; GC-MS ; analysis ; dioxin ; TEQ ; bioassay ; clean-up ; Luciferase ; validation ;  ; 

Summary: Polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (PHAHs), such as the polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and biphenyls (PCBs), are ubiquitous environmental pollutants that accumulate in the food chain. Humans and vertebrate animals are exposed to these contaminants mainly through dietary intake. In the Netherlands relatively high levels of PCDDs. PCDFs and PCBs have been found in human milk samples and may therefore pose a (threat to the health of human infants. Extensive experimental studies have revealed that most (if not all) toxic actions induced by dioxin-like compounds are mediated via the Ah receptor (AhR) signal transduction pathway. This common AhR-mediated mechanism of action is the basis for the so-called toxic equivalency factor (TEF) concept, which is nowadays widely used to convert the complex patterns of PCDD/PCDF and PCB congeners generated by GC-MS analysis of e.g. human samples into one value, representing the total dioxin toxic equivalence (TEQ) of that sample, using congener-specific relative toxic potencies. Recently we and others have developed bioassays that can measure the total TEQ value of complex mixtures without the need for extensive clean-up and chemical analysis procedures. The method that we are using at the moment because of its superior sensitivity, ease and fast performance is the chemical-activated luciferase expression (CALUX) system. In this paper data are presented on the application and validation of the CALUX bioassay to quantify dioxin-like compounds in small aliquots of human milk and plasma, without extensive clean-up procedures.