The Caffeine Breath Test and Caffeine Urinary Metabolite Ratios in the Michigan Cohort Exposed to Polybrominated Biphenyls: A Preliminary Study

• Published in: Environmental health perspectives 1990-11, Vol.89, p.175-181
• Main Authors: Lambert, George H., Schoeller, Dale A., Harold E. B. Humphrey, Kotake, Alvin N., Lietz, Helen, Campbell, Monica, Kalow, Werner, Spielberg, Stephen P., Budd, Marvin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 560300 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology; Adult; Aged; ANALEPTICS; Animals; AROMATICS; AZAARENES; BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS; BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS; BIOLOGICAL WASTES; BODY FLUIDS; Breath tests; BROMINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS; CAFFEINE; Caffeine - metabolism; Caffeine - urine; CARBON 12; CARBON 13; CARBON COMPOUNDS; CARBON DIOXIDE; CARBON ISOTOPES; CARBON OXIDES; CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM AGENTS; CHALCOGENIDES; CHEMICAL ANALYSIS; Chemical hazards; Cohort Studies; Congeners; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System - biosynthesis; CYTOCHROMES; DRUGS; Enzymes; EPIDEMIOLOGY; EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI; EVEN-ODD NUCLEI; FEDERAL REGION V; Female; Food Contamination; Half lives; Half-Life; HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS; HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS; HUMAN POPULATIONS; Humans; ISOTOPE RATIO; ISOTOPES; LIGHT NUCLEI; Liver; Male; MATERIALS; METABOLISM; METABOLITES; MICHIGAN; Michigan - epidemiology; Middle Aged; NORTH AMERICA; NUCLEI; ORGANIC BROMINE COMPOUNDS; ORGANIC COMPOUNDS; ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS; ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS; ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS; OXIDES; OXYGEN COMPOUNDS; PIGMENTS; Polybrominated biphenyls; Polybrominated Biphenyls - blood; Polybrominated Biphenyls - poisoning; POPULATIONS; PROTEINS; PURINES; QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS; RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT; STABLE ISOTOPES; Statistical median; URINE; USA; Volunteerism; WASTES; XANTHINES
• ISSN: 0091-6765; 1552-9924
• DOI: 10.1289/ehp.9089175

A field biochemical epidemiology study was conducted using the Michigan cohort consisting of 51 rural residents exposed to polybrominated biphenyls (PBB). The study had three major objectives: a) to determine the serum half-life of the major PBB congener, hexabromobiphenyl (HBB), in the human, b) to determine if the PBB-exposed subjects had elevated cytochrome P-450I function as determined by the caffeine breath test (CBT) and the caffeine urinary metabolite ratio (CMR), and c) to determine the applicability of the CBT and CMR in field studies. PBB serum levels were detected in 36 of the 51 PBB-exposed subjects. The serum half-life of HBB was determined by comparing the current serum HBB values to the subject's previous serum values obtained 5 to 8 years earlier. The median HBB half-life was 12 years (range 4-97 years). The CBT and CMR were elevated in the subjects exposed to PBBs as compared to the values obtained from urban nonsmokers and were similar to those found in adults who smoke. A gender effect was seen in the PBB-exposed subjects, the median CBT and CMR values of the females being lower than the values of males. There was a correlation between the CBT and the HBB serum values ( r2=0.2, p=0.01) but not between CMR and HBB serum values. The CBT and CMR were easily conducted in the field and appear to be useful metabolic probes of cytochrome P-450I activity in human environmental toxicology.