Bisphenol a glucuronide, a major metabolite in rat bile after liver perfusion

Abstract

The environmental estrogen bisphenol A, orally introduced into the body, passes through the liver and modulates the endocrine system to elicit irreversible changes in the functioning of reproduction. To elucidate the actual and dynamic metabolism of bisphenol A in the liver before its arrival at target organs, this study evaluated the metabolism and disposition of the compound within the passage through the liver in Sprague-Dawley rats. On perfusion of 7.5 micromol of bisphenol A into the liver via the portal vein, approximately 91% of the infused bisphenol A was absorbed by the liver tissue, and about 65% of the absorbed bisphenol A was glucuronidated within 60 min. Roughly 65% of the bisphenol A glucuronide that formed in the liver was excreted into the bile and about 35% into the hepatic vein. On perfusion of 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 mM bisphenol A solution into the liver, free bisphenol A was excreted only into the vein at 5.6, 9.3, and 14.6%, respectively, of the total bisphenol A. These results suggest that most bisphenol A absorbed by the intestine is probably glucuronidated exclusively in the liver and the conjugate is excreted mainly into the bile.