Fate of Pathologically Bound Oxygen Resulting from Inhalation of Labeled Ozone in Rats

Inhaled ozone (O(3)) reacts chemically with respiratory tract biomolecules where it forms covalently bound oxygen adducts. We investigated the fate of these adducts following inhalation exposure of rats to labeled ozone ((18)O(3), 2 ppm, 6 hr or 5 ppm, 2 hr). Increased (18)O was detected in blood plasma at 7 hr post exposure and was continuously present in urine for 4 days. Total (18)O excreted was ~53% of the estimated amount of (18)O(3) retained by the rats during (18)O(3) exposure suggesting that only moderate recycling of the adduct material occurs. The time course of excretion, as well as properties of the excreted (18)O were determined to provide guidance to future searches for urinary oxidative stress markers. These results lend plausibility to published findings that O(3) inhalation could exert influences outside the lung, such as enhancement of atherosclerotic plaques.