MICROBIAL VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS AS INDOOR AIR POLLUTANTS: PREDICTION OF ACUTE ORAL TOXICITY, HEPATOTOXICITY, IMMUNOTOXICITY, GENETIC TOXICITY ENDPOINTS, NUCLEAR RECEPTOR SIGNALLING AND STRESS RESPONSE PATHWAYS BY USING PROTOX–II WEBSERVER

Abstract

Microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) are well-known indoor air pollutants that generate from bacteria and fungi through metabolism during growth. The present objective was a predictive assessment to detect acute toxicity, hepatotoxicity, immunotoxicity, genetic toxicity endpoints, nuclear receptor signalling (NRS), and stress response (SR) pathways of MVOCs by using ProTox-II web server.The MVOCs of 15 nos. were selected as per available literature. The ProTox-II web server was used for predictive toxicity studies. The predictive results for the toxicity of MVOCs, Acetic acid obtained highly toxic compound among 15 compounds as class I and others observed class III, IV and V. None of these were showed hepatotoxic, immunotoxic, cytotoxic and mutagenic active but Isoprene, 2-methyl-2-propanol, Ethyl acetate, Styrene and 3-Methylfuran were obtained carcinogenic active. In case of NRS pathways, all MVOCs were inactive except 1 compound namely Geosmin was AR active, 3 compounds viz. Geosmin, 3-methyl-2-Pentanone and 3- Hexanone were obtained ER active and only Geosmin was obtained ER-LBD active. For SR pathways, all the parameters were obtained inactive for all 15 MVOCs. In conclusion, the predictive results revealed easily the acute toxicity and genotoxic profiles of MVOCs. The present study detects a narrow range of toxic or less toxic compounds, which can be validated in experimental study by further research. This web server helps faster screening of large numbers of compounds within short duration and without animal testing. It is suggested further chronic toxicity test with these highly toxic MVOCs to detect health hazards.