Effects of Vinyl Chloride Exposures to Rats Pretreated with Phenobarbital

Male rats were exposed to 10 consecutive days, 6 hr/day, to vinyl chloride vapors at an average concentration of 13,500 ppm. The exposed rats were divided into three groups of eight rats each: one group was pretreated with 3-methylcholanthrene, one group was pretreated with phenobarbital, and the third group received no treatment. Half the animals in each group were sacrificed 18 hr after the last exposure and half were sacrificed 4 days later. In a second experiment, four rats pretreated with phenobarbital were exposed to vinyl chloride vapors at a concentration of 17,300 ppm for 2 days and sacrificed about 9 A.M. on the third day. In both experiments control animals, also treated with phenobarbital or 3-methylcholanthrene, were exposed to air only. At the time of sacrifice, lungs, kidneys, spleen, heart, and a small piece of liver from each animal were preserved for histological examination. The remainder of the liver was processed for assay of microsomal enzyme activity. The following parameters were investigated: growth rate, organ weights, morphological changes, and both benzphetamine-N-demethylase activity and cytochrome P-450 content of microsomes prepared from the livers. In both experiments the only marked difference noted in any group was a decrease in the growth rate of the animals exposed to vinyl chloride and treated with phenobarbital. This decreased growth rate was particularly apparent on the third day of the vinyl chloride exposures. Occasional morphological changes were also seen in the livers of the animals treated with phenobarbital and exposed to vinyl chloride.