Effects of coal dusts with different concentrations of metals on structure, hepatocellular enzymatic markers, and cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenase system in rat liver

For three months rat livers absorbed coal dust containing low or high concentrations of heavy metals. We found that these concentrations of heavy metals significantly decrease cytochrome P-450 content in hepatic microsomes, and that this decrease correlates with the concentration of heavy metals. Furthermore, we have shown that only coal dust with high heavy metal content produces such structural lesions as necrosis and apoptosis in zone III of the acinus. These lesions are accompanied by increased intracellular catabolism (acid phosphatase), and by considerably decreased activities of enzymes, which are markers of energy production (succinate and lactate dehydrogenase), glycogen metabolism (gluco- se-6-phosphatase), and active excretion of metabolites into bile (adenosine triphosphatase stimulated by Mg++).