Role of biotransformation in the potentiation of halocarbon hepatotoxicity by 2,5-hexanedione.

2,5-Hexanedione (2,5-HD) pretreatment potentiated CHCl3-induced hepatotoxicity. 2,5-HD significantly increased hepatic cytochrome P-450, NADPH cytochrome c reductase, aniline hydroxylation, p-nitroanisole O-demethylation, and aminopyrine N-demethylation in both male and female mice. 2,5-HD pretreatment potentiated CHCl3-induced centrilobular necrosis and increased serum alanine amino transferase (ALT) activity by 20 times more than CHCl3 alone. Similarly, 2,5-HD pretreatment potentiated CDCl3-induced hepatotoxicity as well as CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in male mice, but did not potentiate trichloroethylene-, 1,1,2-trichloroethane-, or perchloroethylene-induced hepatotoxicity. In female mice, 2,5-HD pretreatment potentiated CHCl3- and CDCl3-induced hepatotoxicity as well as trichloroethylene-, 1,1,2-trichloroethane-, and carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity, but not perchloroethylene-induced hepatotoxicity. 2,5-HD pretreatment had no preferential effect on either CHCl3- or CDCl3-induced hepatotoxicity in females. However, phenobarbital pretreatment did differentiate CHCl3- and CDCl3-induced hepatotoxicity in females. 2,5-HD-induced potentiation of halocarbon hepatotoxicity is sex dependent.