Enantioselective behavior of alpha-HCH in mouse and quail tissues.

alpha-HCH (hexachlorocyclohexane) is chiral and can still be detected in almost all environmental media. In this study, the enantioselective behavior of alpha-HCH in mice (CD1) and quail (Coturnix japonica) was investigated and compared after a single dose of exposure. The primary nerve cell culture was conducted to evaluate the enantioselective metabolic capacity of nerve cells of mouse and quail for alpha-HCH. In various tissues of the mice and quail, the alpha-HCH concentrations showed a typical pattern of first-order dynamics after exposure. The enantiomeric fractions (EFs) in nonbrain tissues of mice decreased substantially, indicating continuous depletion of (+)-alpha-HCH in mice. Tissue-specific EF trends in quail and enantioselective degradation of (-)-alpha-HCH in quail liver were observed. These observations indicated that the dynamic changes of EFs in mice and quail were independent of concentration changes in the same tissues. In brain tissues, the enantioenrichment of (+)-enantiomer was totally independent of their concentrations in blood. The in vitro metabolism of alpha-HCH in the primary nerve cells were negligible, and the slight EF changes in primary nerve cells demonstrated that metabolism, uptake, and excretion in the brain cells would not lead to the observed dramatic enantioenrichment of (+)-alpha-HCH in the brain tissues of the two animals. The enantioselective transport across the blood-brain barrier was the primary cause for the enantioenrichment of (+)-alpha-HCH in the brain tissues.