Description: |
Benzyl acetate is used as a flavoring agent in foods, as a fragrance in soaps and perfumes, as a solvent for cellulose acetate and nitrate, and as a component of printing inks and varnish removers.[14C]Benzyl acetate is a potential radiotracer for the measurement of glial metabolism in the rat brain. |
In vitro: |
Food Chem Toxicol,1994 Nov;32(11):1061-5. | Percutaneous absorption of benzyl acetate through rat skin in vitro. 3. A comparison with human skin.[Pubmed: 7959461] | METHODS AND RESULTS: The comparative absorption of the fragrance and industrial compound, benzyl acetate, has been studied in rat and human skin, using shaved, full-thickness dorsal skin of male Fischer 344 rats and full-thickness human skin obtained from patients undergoing surgical resection. Penetration of the compound through rat and human skin was evaluated in vitro in flow-through diffusion cells following topical application of neat [methylene-14C] benzyl acetate (33.1 mg/cm2) to the epidermal surface and occlusion with a teflon cap, 2.9 cm above the skin surface. The absorption of benzyl acetate across rat skin was rapid and extensive, reaching 34.3 +/- 3.9% of the applied dose (11.3 +/- 1.3 mg/cm2) (mean +/- SD, n = 12) at 24 hr and 55.8 +/- 5.0% of the applied dose (18.5 +/- 1.7 mg/cm2) at 72 hr. The penetration of benzyl acetate was significantly (P < 0.05) less rapid and extensive through human skin, reaching 5.5 +/- 0.1% of the applied dose (1.8 +/- 0.0 mg/cm2) (mean +/- SD, n = 12) at 24 hr and 17.8 +/- 3.3% of the applied dose (5.9 +/- 1.1 mg/cm2) at 72 hr. The rate of penetration of benzyl acetate was greater through rat skin than through human tissue at all time points studied up to 72 hr. The maximum rate of skin penetration was 0.6 +/- 0.1 mg/cm2/hr and 0.1 +/- 0.0 mg/cm2/hr through rat and human skin, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS:
These data indicate that systemic exposure to benzyl acetate may occur after skin contact in humans. They also support the evidence from the literature that human skin is generally less permeable to xenobiotics than rat skin. |
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In vivo: |
Nuclear Medicine & Biology, 2007,34(8):939-944. | [14C]Benzyl acetate is a potential radiotracer for the measurement of glial metabolism in the rat brain.[Reference: WebLink] | METHODS AND RESULTS: In order to develop a suitable radiotracer for the measurement of glial metabolism, we synthesized four different types of ester derivatives of [14C]acetate, namely, [14C]phenyl acetate, [14C]para-nitrophenyl acetate, [14C]2,4-dinitrophenyl acetate and [14C]benzyl acetate ([14C]BA), and evaluated their potencies in rats. Among the derivatives, the highest brain uptake at 30 s postinjection was observed for [14C]BA, which was more than 23 times higher than that of [14C]acetate itself. A long-term retention of [14C]BA radioactivity in the brain was observed, whereas rapid clearance of radioactivity was seen in the heart. [14C]BA was rapidly hydrolyzed in the intact rat brain, and less than 5% of radiolabeled parent was observed 1 min after the injection. Radiochemical analysis using thin-layer chromatography revealed that [14C]BA was rapidly converted to [14C]glutamine and [14C]glutamate in the cortex within 10 min after injection. Furthermore, the uptake of [14C]BA was significantly decreased following microinjection of fluorocitrate, a selective glial toxin.
CONCLUSIONS:
These results strongly suggest that [14C]BA may be a useful radiotracer for the measurement of glial metabolism in the intact rat brain. |
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