Toxication of Foreign Substances by Conjugation Reactions

Abstract

Abstract Elucidation of the metabolic pathways of foreign compounds in mammalian organisms contributes substantially to the understanding of toxic effects and is therefore a basic component of every risk analysis. The abundance of chemical reactions which take part in metabolic transformations allows one to speculate that we, with our present state of knowledge, are just at the beginning of a development which will help explain the interplay between chemical structure, biochemical transformation and toxic effects. This applies in particular to the conjugation of foreign compounds with structures and molecules endogenous to the body. Until recently it was thought that these conjugation reactions lead to chemically and biologically inert products, which could be easily eliminated by the organism. Using new biological testing procedures and sensitive methods of analysis, this assumption has been refuted. The fact is, that highly toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic products can result from the chemical interactions of foreign substances with endogenous substrates.