BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Abuse of toluene-containing organic solvents by inhalation is a prevalent practice among adolescents. Long-term abuse of toluene causes cognitive deficits. The mechanism of cognitive deficits induced by long-term toluene abuse has not yet been defined. In the current study, we assessed the effects of chronic toluene abuse on cortical gray matter volume and the association...

DNA stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP) with H(2)(18)O was used to identify a toluene-degrading bacterium in soil amended with 48 ppm toluene. After quantification of toluene degradation rates in soil, DNA was extracted from soil incubated with H(2)(18)O, H(2)(16)O, H(2)(16)O and 48 ppm toluene, or H(2)(18)O and 48 ppm toluene. A single DNA band formed along a cesium chloride gradient after isopyc...

A primary goal of protein engineering is to control catalytic activity. Here we show that through mutagenesis of three active site residues, the catalytic activity of a multicomponent monooxygenase is altered so that it hydroxylates all three positions of toluene as well as both positions of naphthalene. Hence, for the first time, an enzyme has been engineered so that its regiospecific oxidatio...

Toluene occurs naturally as a component of crude oil and is produced in petroleum refining and coke oven operations; toluene is a major aromatic constituent of gasoline (HSDB, 1999). It is used in household aerosols, nail polish, paints and paint thinners, lacquers, rust inhibitor, adhesives and solvent based cleaning agents. Toluene is also utilized in printing operations, leather tanning and ...

We have investigated the skin absorption of liquid toluene and of solutions of toluene in water by the methods we used for ethylbenzene (Dutkiewicz and Tyras, I967). The absorption rate of liquid toluene was I4-23 mg./cm.2/hr in I0 estimations on nine subjects. Absorption of toluene from an aqueous solution was proportional to the concentration (Figure). For equal concentrations the rate was on...

Toluene is one of the most widely used solvents. Electrophysiological studies indicated that this solvent directly affects various ligand gated ion channels including NMDA, GABA(A), nicotinic and glycine receptors. The effect of toluene on seizures induced by chemoconvulsants acting on these receptors was compared. Mice were pretreated with toluene (100-1000 mg/kg, i.p.) or corn oil followed by...

Toluene is a commonly used volatile organic chemical in industry and is the most often chosen illicit substance among volatile substance abusers. Studies involving healthy volunteers suggest that ethanol consumption inhibits toluene metabolism, thus increasing its blood levels. In this study, a lethal case of combined ethanol consumption and toluene inhalation has been reported. Our case was a ...

Sequence analysis in Pseudomonas putida DOT-T1E revealed a second toluene efflux system for toluene metabolism encoded by the ttgDEF genes, which are adjacent to the tod genes. The ttgDEF genes were expressed in response to the presence of aromatic hydrocarbons such as toluene and styrene in the culture medium. To characterize the contribution of the TtgDEF system to toluene tolerance in P. put...