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Occupational dimethylformamide exposure. 1. Diffusive sampling of dimethylformamide vapor for determination of time-weighted average concentration in air.

A diffusive sampling method with water as absorbent was examined in comparison with 3 conventional methods of diffusive sampling with carbon cloth as absorbent, pumping through National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) charcoal tubes, and pumping through NIOSH silica gel tubes to measure time-weighted average concentration of dimethylformamide (DMF). DMF vapors of constant concentrations at 3-110 ppm were generated by bubbling air at constant velocities through liquid DMF followed by dilution with fresh air. Both types of diffusive samplers could either absorb or adsorb DMF in proportion to time (0.25-8 h) and concentration (3-58 ppm), except that the DMF adsorbed was below the measurable amount when carbon cloth samplers were exposed at 3 ppm for less than 1 h. When both diffusive samplers were loaded with DMF and kept in fresh air, the DMF in water samplers stayed unchanged for at least for 12 h. The DMF in carbon cloth samplers showed a decay with a half-time of 14.3 h. When the carbon cloth was taken out immediately after termination of DMF exposure, wrapped in aluminum foil, and kept refrigerated, however, there was no measurable decrease in DMF for at least 3 weeks. When the air was drawn at 0.2 l/min, a breakthrough of the silica gel tube took place at about 4,000 ppm.min (as the lower 95% confidence limit), whereas charcoal tubes could tolerate even heavier exposures, suggesting that both tubes are fit to measure the 8-h time-weighted average of DMF at 10 ppm.

Air Pollutants, Occupational

Occupational dimethylformamide exposure. 2. Monomethylformamide excretion in urine after occupational dimethylformamide exposure.

The relationship between the 8-h time-weighted average (TWA) intensity of exposure to N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) vapor (with little possibility of skin contact with liquid DMF) and the subsequent excretion of N-monomethylformamide (MMF) precursor in shift-end urine samples was examined in 116 workers exposed to DMF and 92 workers exposed to DMF in combination with toluene. Urinary MMF level was examined also in 42 non-exposed subjects. The TWA vapor concentration in breathing zone air of each worker was successfully measured by means of a recently developed diffusive sampler in which water was used as an absorbent. The examination of gas chromatographic (GC) conditions for MMF determination showed that the formation of MMF was not saturated when the injection port temperature was set at 200 degrees C, reached a plateau at 250 degrees C, and showed no additional increase at 300 degrees C. There was a linear relationship between DMF in air and MMF in urine with a regression equation of y = 1.65 x + 1.69 (r = 0.723, P less than 0.01), where y is MMF (unit; mg/l, uncorrected for urine density) in urine and x is DMF (ppm) in air, when only those exposed to DMF were selected, and the injection port temperature was set at 250 degrees C. From this equation, it was possible to estimate that about 10% of the DMF absorbed will be excreted into urine as the MMF precursor. The slope of the regression line was significantly smaller among those exposed to DMF and toluene in combination as compared with those with DMF exposure only.

Adult

Occupational dimethylformamide exposure. 3. Health effects of dimethylformamide after occupational exposure at low concentrations.

A factory survey was conducted in a plant where N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) was in use during the production of polyurethane plastics and related materials. In all, 318 DMF-exposed workers (195 men and 123 women) and 143 non-exposed controls (67 men and 76 women) were examined for time-weighted average exposure (to DMF and other solvents by diffusive sampling), hematology, serum biochemistry, subjective symptoms, and clinical signs. Most of the exposed workers were exposed only to DMF, whereas others were exposed to a combination of DMF and toluene. DMF exposure in the former group was up to 7.0 ppm (geometric mean on a workshop basis), whereas it was up to 2.1 ppm in combination with 4.2 ppm toluene. Both hematology and serum biochemistry, results (including aspartate and alanine aminotransferases, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and amylase) were essentially comparable among the 3 groups. There was, however, a dose-dependent increase in subjective symptoms, especially during work, and in digestive system-related symptoms such as nausea and abdominal pain in the past 3-month period. The prevalence rate of alcohol intolerance complaints among male (assumedly) social drinkers was also elevated in relation to DMF dose.

Adolescent

Alteration of lacto-series glycolipid glycosyltransferase activities in human colonic adenocarcinoma DLD-1 cells after culture in N,N-dimethylformamide-containing medium.

Human colonic adenocarcinoma DLD-1 cells were grown under conditions which induce characteristics of differentiated cells using medium containing 0.8% N,N-dimethylformamide in order to study alterations in glycosphingolipid glycosyltransferase activities during this process. Analysis of biosynthetic reactions involved in lacto-series antigen synthesis revealed no changes in the specific activities of either beta 1----4galactosyltransferase or alpha 1----3/4fucosyltransferase with N,N-dimethylformamide treatment. However, a dramatic decrease of from 14- to 20-fold in the beta 1----3N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase activity was observed in the treated cells. This enzyme catalyzes the rate-limiting step in lacto-series core chain synthesis. This is consistent with the pattern of regulation of lacto-series antigen expression found to occur during oncogenesis in human colonic mucosa (Holmes EH, Hakomori S, Ostrander GK: J Biol Chem 262:15649, 1987). Total glycolipids from untreated and N,N-dimethylformamide-treated cells were isolated and subjected to TLC immunostain analysis and solid phase radioimmunoassay with a series of monoclonal antibodies specific for lacto-series-based carbohydrate antigens. A decrease of about 2-fold or less in the quantity of lacto-series antigens was observed as a consequence of N,N-dimethylformamide treatment in both neutral glycolipid and ganglioside fractions. The results suggest that only very low levels of beta 1----3N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase activity are required for the steady state expression of significant levels of lacto-series based glycolipids and that modulation of its activity levels by N,N-dimethylformamide treatment in DLD-1 cells represents a convenient in vitro system for studying aspects of regulation of lacto-series antigen expression.

Adenocarcinoma

Triple combination of retinoic acid plus actinomycin D plus dimethylformamide induces differentiation of human acute myeloid leukaemic blasts in primary culture.

Differentiation induction therapy provides an alternative for treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients who are either unsuitable for or unresponsive to conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy. The effect of a triple combination of retinoic acid (RA) + actinomycin D (Act-D) + dimethylformamide (DMF) on differentiation of blasts from 24 AML patients was studied. Non-adherent mononuclear cells were seeded at a concentration of 5 x 10(5) cells/ml in 24-well tissue-culture plates containing RPMI 1640 culture medium with 20% fetal calf serum, 10% autologous serum and 10% 5637-conditioned medium and incubated with 10(-6) M retinoic acid, 5 nM actinomycin D and/or 100 mM dimethylformamide alone and in combination with each other for 6 days at 37 degrees C in a humidified incubator and an atmosphere containing 5% CO2. The triple combination of 10(-6) M retinoic acid + 5 nM actinomycin D + 100 mM dimethylformamide induced 90% of the blasts from 22 of the 24 AML patients to differentiate. The combination of N-methylformamide (a compound similar to dimethylformamide) with cyclophosphamide significantly increased the in vivo activity with no concomitant increase in its reversible hepatotoxicity. Since several polar compounds related to dimethyl-formamide, e.g. hexamethylene bisacetamide and N-methylformamide, are currently undergoing phase II clinical trials, it may be feasible to combine one of these with retinoic acid and/or actinomycin D in the treatment of AML patients.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols

Induction of myogenic differentiation in human rhabdomyosarcoma cells by ionising radiation, N,N-dimethylformamide and their combination.

Differentiation-inducing ability of gamma-radiation, N,N-dimethylformamide and their combination has been tested on human rhabdomyosarcoma RMZ-RC2 clone cells. Ionising radiation at 2-5 Gy doses induced a more differentiated morphology, with the appearance of an increased proportion of multinuclear myotube-like cells, and a significant increase in myosin-positive and multinuclear cells. Radiation appeared to act by inducing de novo differentiated elements. N,N-dimethylformamide was able to induce an increased myosin expression, but did not affect multinuclear cell proportion. The combined treatment (ionising radiation and N,N-dimethylformamide) resulted in an additive increase in the proportion of myosin-positive cells, approaching 25-35%, but de novo differentiated elements were not increased above the levels obtained with irradiation alone.

Cell Differentiation

Molecular weight of an extremely hydrophobic protein, zein, in dimethylformamide and in formamide.

Both alpha zein purified from a commericial preparation and beta zein prepared fresh from corn are soluble in the nonaqueous solvents formamide and dimethylformamide; in this regard zein resembles water soluble proteins such as insulin, ribonuclease, and lysozyme. On the basis of osmotic pressure measurements made in both formamide and dimethylformamide, alpha zein has a number average moleular weight of 21000-24000 daltons and shows no tendency to aggregate or dissociate. Beta zein exists in an aggregated state (dimer and higher forms) in dimethylformamide. Formamide dissociates the beta zein dimer into monomer units but aggregation to higher species occurs with increasing protein concentration.

Binding Sites

N,N-dimethylformamide-induced alteration of cell culture characteristics and loss of tumorigenicity in cultured human colon carcinoma cells.

Human colon carcinoma cell lines established in this laboratory were treated in vitro with N,N-dimethylformamide. This polar solvent caused morphological changes in the cells as well as alterations in their growth properties. Untreated cells had cloning efficiencies of up to 77% in soft agar; treatment with N,N-dimethylformamide resulted in a complete loss of clonogenicity in semisolid medium. Growth in the presence of the polar solvent also effected a marked reduction in the tumorigenicity of the cells. Ten of ten nude mice that received a s.c. inoculum of 1 X 10(6) untreated cells developed tumors histologically similar to colonic adenocarcinomas in 10 to 14 days, whereas nine of ten nude mice inoculated with 1 X 10(6) treated cells have shown no sign of tumor 3 to 6 months postinjection. Removal of the polar solvent from the culture medium was accompanied by the reappearance of tumorigenicity and the original cell culture characteristics. Therefore, it appears that N,N-dimethylformamide can reversibly effect the reversion of cultured human colon carcinoma cells to less malignant cell types.

Animals

Affinity chromatography of 3 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas testosteroni. Use of N,N-dimethylformamide to prevent hydrophobic interactions between the enzyme and the ligand.

1. The 3alpha-hydroxysteroid: NAD+-oxidoreductase (EC 1.1.1.50) from Pseudomonas testosteroni (ATCC 11996) has been purified by affinity chromatography on Sepharose 4B using glycocholic acid as ligand covalently bound through its carboxyl group to the ethylenediamine spacer. 2. The attachment of the enzyme to the substrate-containing matrix is greatly enhanced by the presence of NAD+ suggesting that this enzyme has a compulsory ordered mechanism where NAD+ binds to the enzyme before the steroid. 3. A NAD+-independent interaction between the enzyme and the ligand was also found. This interaction was mainly hydrophobic and interfered with the NAD+-dependent binding. The NAD+-independent interaction was reduced by N,N-dimethylformamide. 4. By using the affinity column in the presence of 10% N,N-dimethylformamide, highly purified enzyme, as judged from polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, could be obtained in one step from crude bacterial extracts.

Chromatography, Affinity

Clinical and pathological characteristics of hepatotoxicity associated with occupational exposure to dimethylformamide.

The clinical characteristics, laboratory results, and liver biopsy findings of seven workers with toxic liver injury associated with exposure to several solvents, including substantial levels of the widely used solvent dimethylformamide, are presented. Three patients had short exposure (less than 3 months), four long exposure (greater than 1 year). Among those with brief exposure, symptoms included anorexia, abdominal pain, and disulfiram-type reaction. Aminotransferases were markedly elevated with the ratio of alanine aminotransferase to aspartate aminotransferase always greater than 1. Liver biopsy showed focal hepatocellular necrosis and microvesicular steatosis with prominence of smooth endoplasmic reticulum, complex lysosomes, and pleomorphic mitochondria with crystalline inclusions. Among workers with long exposure, symptoms were minimal and enzyme elevations modest. Biopsies showed macrovesicular steatosis, pleomorphic mitochondria without crystalloids, and prominent smooth endoplasmic reticulum, but no evidence of persisting acute injury or fibrosis. Abnormal aminotransferases in both groups may persist for months after removal from exposure, but progression to cirrhosis in continually exposed workers was not observed. We conclude that exposure of these workers to solvents, chiefly dimethylformamide, may result in two variants of toxic liver injury with subtle clinical, laboratory, and morphological features. This may be readily overlooked if occupational history and biopsy histology are not carefully evaluated.

Adult

Liver injury in workers exposed to dimethylformamide.

An apparent epidemic cluster of toxic liver disease was reexamined among workers exposed to the solvent dimethylformamide. A demographically similar but unexposed group from a preemployment population was used for comparison. Analysis, after data transformation of the liver transaminases, revealed significant differences between the two populations with respect to the serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase and the ratio of serum glutaminic oxaloacetic transaminase to serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase. Thus a value of the ratio of serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase to serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase. Thus a value of the ratio less than 1 may be suggestive of toxic liver disease. Medical surveillance of the working population for 14 months revealed no further cases of toxic liver disease. Dimethylformamide was almost certainly the causative agent of the original epidemic. The use of preemployment populations as a source of unexposed subjects in the analysis of occupational clusters is recommended, especially in the scenario of relatively acute, and highly prevalent, occupational diseases.

Adult

N,N-Dimethylformamide-induced morphological differentiation and reduction of tumorigenicity in cultured mouse rhabdomyosarcoma cells.

N,N-Dimethylformamide treatment of cell cultures established from a transplantable murine rhabdomyosarcoma-induced morphological differentiation and a marked reduction in the tumorigenicity of the sarcoma cells. Fourteen of 17 CE/J mice receiving injections of inducer-treated cells did not develop tumors after 6 months, whereas all 21 mice receiving inocula of untreated sarcoma cells died of disease between 11 and 31 days. The drug-treated cells did not grow in soft agar; untreated tumor cells grew in the semisolid medium. The untreated tumor cells showed a reduced serum requirement and had a higher saturation density compared to drug-treated cells. Thus the reduction in tumorigenicity of N,N-dimethylformamide-treated cells correlated with certain in vitro growth properties that are more characteristic of normal, mesenchymally derived cells than of sarcoma cells.

Animals

Electrochemical properties of polycyclic compounds studied by the polarographic method in anhydrous systems. VII. Polarographic oxidation of carcinogenic hydrocarbons in dimethylformamide.

The electrooxidation of polycyclic carcinogenic hydrocarbons in dimethylformamide solutions was studied by polarography. The results generally have confirmed that a correlation exists between oxidation potentials and carcinogenic activity of the studied polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The half-wave potentials of the polarographic curves have been found to be directly related to the root xn of the Hückel secular equation for the highest bonding orbital and to the reduction potentials measured in dimethylformamide.

Carcinogens

Anti-tumor and differentiation-inducing activity of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) in head-and-neck cancer xenografts.

The anti-tumor activity of the putative differentiation-inducing agent dimethylformamide (DMF) was assessed in 7 head-and-neck xenograft (HNX) lines transplanted into nude mice. The drug was administered intra-peritoneally at the maximum tolerated dose. A significant growth-inhibitory effect was observed in 3 out of 7 tumor lines tested. When compared with 5 conventional drugs active in patients with squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC), DMF was as effective as the most active drugs (cisplatin and bleomycin). The most sensitive xenograft line, the poorly differentiated tumor HNX-14C, was used to test the hypothesis that differentiation induction might play a role in the anti-tumor activity of DMF. Light microscopic examination did not show clear-cut alteration of differentiation characteristics such as keratin and keratin pearl formation. Furthermore, we used a monoclonal antibody to study the expression of cytokeratin 10 which is useful as a differentiation marker of human HNSCC tumors. Keratin 10, not present in HNX-14C tumors grown under control conditions, became expressed in some cells upon DMF treatment. Further evidence for a differentiation-inducing activity of DMF was found in electron-microscopic studies. In treated HNX-14C tumors, in addition to cells with normal ultrastructural features, better-differentiated cells were observed, as manifested by an increase in the number of tonofilaments and desmosomes. The results show that DMF has a potential value for the treatment of patients with head-and-neck cancer, and that differentiation induction might play a role in the anti-tumor action of the drug.

Animals

Response of FR3T3 cells transformed by Ha-ras oncogene and epidermal growth factor gene to differentiation induction by N,N-dimethylformamide.

Treatment of chemically transformed fibroblasts with N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) results in the restoration of a nontransformed phenotype. In an attempt to identify more precisely the mechanisms by which DMF reverses the transformed phenotype, the effects of DMF on fibroblasts which were transformed by a single gene--specifically a synthetic epidermal growth factor (EGF) gene or the Ha-ras oncogene--were examined. The constitutive expression of either the Ha-ras oncogene or the EGF gene in FR3T3 fibroblasts resulted in cellular transformation. The effect of the differentiation-inducing agent DMF on several properties of these transformed cell lines was examined. The EGF-transfected cells were much more responsive to DMF than the ras-transfected cells. DMF treatment of the EGF-transfected cells resulted in the inhibition of anchorage-independent growth, the restoration of a normal cellular morphology and growth rate in monolayer culture, and the down-regulation of the proliferation-associated nucleolar protein B23. DMF treatment had a much slighter effect on growth of the ras-transfected cells in monolayer culture or under anchorage-independent growth conditions. The high proliferation rate of the ras-3 cells was associated with elevated expression of protein B23. The 19-3 cells, but not the ras-3 cells, expressed cell-surface fibronectin. Treatment of the ras-3 cells with DMF did not restore fibronectin expression. The binding of EGF was increased 3-fold in the EGF-transfected cells and decreased 20-fold in ras-transfected cells, but in neither case did DMF alter EGF binding. DMF treatment increased the secretion of EGF in the 2 transfected lines as well as in control cells. These results suggest that the aberrant-growth control in the EGF-transfected cells, but not in the ras-transfected cells, could be modulated by DMF and that the aberrant-growth control mechanisms were different in these 2 cell types.

Animals

Embryotoxicity and teratogenicity study in rats dosed epicutaneously with dimethylformamide (DMF).

The reproductive effect of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) administered epicutaneously to rats was examined. The rats were dosed on gestation days 6-15 or on gestation days 1-20 at dose levels of up to 2 ml DMF kg-1 body weight. Body weight, weight gain and pregnancy rate were reduced in those rats receiving 2 ml DMF kg-1 body weight per day on days 6-15. A reduction in the number of live fetuses and in fetal weight, as well as an increase in postimplantation loss, were also observed at this dose level. Similar but more pronounced effects were observed in rats dosed on days 1-20 with 2 ml DMF kg-1 body weight. The lowest effect level was 1 ml DMF kg-1 body weight. No other dose-related effects were found in this study.

Administration, Topical

The differential effects of N,N-dimethylformamide and transforming growth factor-beta 1 on a human ovarian cancer cell line (HOC-7).

We have compared the effects of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 1 on the growth and phenotype of HOC-7 ovarian cancer cells. Previous density gradient fractionation of untreated HOC-7 cells suggested that rapidly growing small polygonal medium density cells revert spontaneously into less malignant flattened low density cells. Here we demonstrate that DMF and TGF-beta 1 induce similar flattened cell phenotypes. Both agents induce qualitatively similar alterations in the cells. DMF, however, exerted stronger effects than TGF-beta 1. The cells become flattened, develop cytoplasmic extensions, and reduce DNA-synthesis as well as anchorage-dependent and -independent growth. These effects are reversible after removal of the inducers, indicating that the cells have not become terminally differentiated. Electron microscopy demonstrates prominent filament bundles in treated cells. Immunofluorescence further shows that these cells contain large amounts of cytokeratin. Immunocytochemistry and ELISA demonstrate 1- to 5-fold higher amounts of desmoplakin and fibronectin after DMF- or TGF-beta 1-exposure. The described differentiation-like responses of HOC-7 cells can be used for recognition of pharmacologically induced maturation of ovarian cancer cells.

Cell Division

Percutaneous absorption of N,N-dimethylformamide in humans.

Skin penetration fo N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) liquid or vapour was studied in volunteers. Exposure to liquid DMF was performed in two ways: in a "dipping experiment", one hand was dipped up to the wrist in DMF for 2-20 min, while in a "patch experiment", 2 mmol DMF was applied to the skin and allowed to be absorbed completely. The period of exposure to DMF vapour (50 mg.m-3) was 4 h. The DMF metabolites N-hydroxymethyl-N-methylformamide ("MF"), N-hydroxymethylformamide ("F"), and N-acetyl-S-(N-methylcarbamoyl)cysteine (AMCC) were monitored in the urine. Liquid DMF was absorbed through the skin at a rate of 9.4 mg.cm-2.h-1. Percutaneous absorption of DMF vapour depended strongly on ambient temperature and humidity and accounted for 13%-36% of totally excreted "MF". The results suggest that skin absorption of liquid DMF is likely to contribute to occupational exposure substantially more than penetration of DMF vapour. The yield of metabolites after transdermal DMF absorption was only half of that seen after pulmonary absorption. Elimination of "MF" and "F" but not that of AMCC was delayed, which supports the contention that AMCC should be used instead of "MF" as the most suitable biomarker of DMF in cases where percutaneous intake can occur.

Acetylcysteine