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An Pauwels,¹ Peter H. Cenijn,^2,3 Paul J.C. Schepens,¹ and Abraham Brouwer^2,3

¹Toxicological Center (Pharmaceutical Sciences), Antwerp University, Wilrijk, Belgium
²Department of Toxicology, Agricultural University Wageningen, Wageningen, the Netherlands
³Institute for Environmental Studies, Free University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Abstract

We assessed exposure to dioxin-like compounds using chemical and bioassay analysis in different matrices in a female population. A total of 106 serum and 9 follicular fluid samples were collected from infertile women attending Centers for Reproductive Medicine in Belgium from 1996 to 1998. Major polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners were quantified by chemical analysis using gas chromatography with electron-capture detection, and the chemical-activated luciferase gene expression (CALUX) bioassay was used to determine the total dioxin-like toxic equivalence (TEQ) of mixtures of polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons present in body fluids, such as serum and follicular fluid. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first investigation to determine TEQ values by the CALUX bioassay in follicular fluid. The TEQ levels in both matrices are well correlated (r = 0.83, p = 0.02) . As the chemical and bioassay analysis executed in this study do not cover the same span of polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons, we did not expect totally correlated results. Moreover, the sample workup and quantification of the analytes differed completely. Nonetheless, the TEQ values in human extracts correlated well with the sum of four major PCB congeners chemically determined in both serum and follicular fluid. These results indicate that the CALUX bioassay may serve as a simple, relatively inexpensive prescreening tool for exposure assessment in epidemiologic surveys. Key words: CALUX bioassay, chemical-activated luciferase gene expression bioassay, dioxin-like compounds, follicular fluid, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) , serum, toxic equivalences. Environ Health Perspect 108:553-557 (2000) . [Online 2 May 2000]

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2000/108p553-557pauwels/ abstract.html

Address correspondence to A. Pauwels, Antwerp University, Toxicological Center (Pharmaceutical Sciences) , Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium. Telephone: 32 3 820 27 43. Fax: 32 3 820 27 34. E-mail: toxlab@uia.ua.ac.be

Received 28 September 1999 ; accepted 30 December 1999.