Selection of inducers: An important factor in characterizing genetic differences to induction of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase in strains of mice

The effect of various microsomal enzyme inducers such as DDT, benzpyrene, 3-MC, TCDD or phenobarbital on liver microsomal mixed-function oxidases and cytochrome P450 content in mice genetically responsive (C57B1/6J) and resistant (DBA/2J) to induction of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) was studied. 3-MC and benzpyrene administration stimulated liver AHH activity 6–8 fold in C57B1/6J mice but had no effect in DBA/2J mice. However, intraperitoneal administration of TCDD increased AHH activity in both C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice. This increase was accompanied by shift in the peak of cytochrome P450 difference spectrum from 450 to 448 nm. It is concluded that genetic resistance to AHH stimulation in DBA/2J mice is influenced by the type of inducer used.     

Effects of chronic ethanol administration in the rat: relative dependency on dietary lipids. II. Paradoxical role of linoleate in the induction of hepatic drug-metabolizing enzymes in vitro.

The effect of chronic ethanol administration on the hepatic microsomal cytochrome P-450 content and activities of NADPH - cytochrome P-450 reductase (EC 1.6.2.4), benzphetamine demethylase, aniline hydroxylase (EC 1.14.14.1), and of the microsomal ethanoloxidizing system were studied in various dietary models. When ethanol was given with linoleate as the only source of dietary lipid, the ethanol induction of these parameters was greater with diets containing 2 or 5% of total calories as linoleate than with diets containing 10% of total calories as linoleate. By contrast, when ethanol was given with high fat (35% of total calories) diets, the ethanol induction of these same parameters was slightly greater when linoleate provided 10% of total calories than when it provided 3% of calories. The apparent effect of dietary linoleate on the induction, by ethanol, of microsomal drug-metabolizing enzymes is markedly different when linoleate is given as the only source of dietary lipid as opposed to when it is given with other dietary lipids. Thus, conclusions on the effect of ethanol on hepatic microsomal drug-biotransformation enzymes, drawn from studies with dietary models in which linoleate provides the only source of dietary lipid, connot be extended to dietary modles of more complex lipid composition. When given as the only source of lipid, 2% of total calories in linoleate appears optimal for basal activity and inductibility, by ethanol, of mixed-function oxidases.     

Growth hormone and drug metabolism. Acute effects on microsomal mixed-function oxidase activities in rat liver.

Adult male rats were subjected either to sham operation or to hypophysectomy and adrenalectomy and maintained for a total of 10 days before treatment with growth hormone. Results of the early effects of growth hormone on the activities of the mixed-function oxidases in rat liver over a 96h period after growth-hormone treatment are presented. 2. Hypophysectomy and adrenalectomy result in decreased body and liver weight and decreased drug metabolism (mixed-function oxidases). Concentrations of electron-transport-system components are also decreased. 3. In the hypophysectomized/adrenalectomized rats, growth hormone decreases the activities of the liver mixed-function oxidases and the cytochrome P-450 and cytochrome c reductases, as well as decreasing the concentration of cytochrome P-450 compared with that of control rats. Similar but less dramatic results are obtained with sham-operated rats. 4. It is concluded that whereas growth hormone enhances liver growth, including induction of many enzyme activities, it results in a decrease in mixed-function oxidase activity. Apparently, mixed-function oxidase activity decreases in liver when growth (mitogenesis) increases.     

Subcellular fractionation of isolated rat hepatocytes a comparison with liver homogenate

An improved method for the homogenization and the subsequent subcellular fractionation of hepatocytes isolated from adult rat liver is described.The homogenization procedure developed in the present study allows the preservation of the integrity of subcellular structures, as demonstrated by measurement of the activities of representative enzymes as well as by determination of their latency.The activities of representative marker enzymes, as calculated on subcellular fractions obtained by differential centrifugation of the homogenate, are identical whether the homogenate arises from isolated hepatocytes or from the whole liver.Moreover, there is a close similitude between the kinetic parameters (K_{m and} V) of two microsomal cytochrome P₄₅₀-dependent mixed-function oxidases, namely aniline hydroxylase and aminopyrine demethylase determined on microsomal preparations obtained either from isolated cells or from the whole liver.     

The reversal of experimental porphyria and the prevention of induction of hepatic mixed-function oxidase by acetate

The administration of acetate or sulfanilamide depressed the porphyric response of rats to 3,5-dicarbethoxy-1,4-dihydrocollidine. The induction of δ-aminolevulinate synthetase (EC 2.3.1.37) in porphyric rats was decreased by acetate administration and δ-aminolevulinate synthetase activity in hepatic homogenates was inhibited by acetate. Succinate reversed the inhibition by acetate in vitro. Since an alteration of heme biosynthesis by acetate was observed, the effect of acetate on the induction of hepatic microsomal cytochrome P-450 and microsomal mixed-function oxidase by phenobarbital was examined. Acetate prevented the induction of hepatic mixed-function oxidase and cytochrome P-450 by phenobarbital. Unlike the action of other inhibitors of hepatic heme biosynthesis, acetate also prevented the induction by phenobarbital of NADPH-cytochrome c reductase (EC 1.6.99.3). These findings suggest that acetate may be inhibiting heme biosynthesis by effects on δ-aminolevulinate synthetase, the rate-limiting step in heme biosynthesis, by alteration of the induction of this enzyme and by a direct effect on the enzymic reaction itself. It is suggested that acetate may be involved in the glucose effect related to the inhibition of the induction of δ-aminolevulinate synthetase.     

Studies on the substrate-binding sites of liver microsomal cytochrome P-448.

The interaction of substrates of the microsomal mixed-function oxidases with cytochromes P-450 and P-448 was investigated by using liver microsomes from rats pretreated with phenobarbital or 3-methylcholanthrene, and with purified forms of the cytochromes isolated from rabbit liver. The two forms of the cytochrome have different substrate specificities; cytochrome P-450 has one type 1 substrate-binding site that can accommodate a large variety of substrates, but in contrast cytochrome P-448 may possess two type 1 substrate-binding sites, one of which is different to that of cytochrome P-450 in that it shows a specificity for substrates such as safrole and 9-hydroxy-ellipticine. These findings explain why the two forms of the cytochrome have different substrate specificities and play contrasting roles in the activation and deactivation of xenobiotics.     

Mixed-function oxidase induction as a test for the biological monitoring of water: limitations and prospects]

The induction in fish liver of some enzyme activities, and typically of microsomal mixed-function oxidases (MFO), provides the earliest biological warning signal of exposure to pollutants. Our studies provided evidence that the basal levels of cytochrome P-450 and specific MFO activities, such as arylhydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) and ethoxyresorufin deethylase (EROD), were strongly influenced by the diet in freshwater fish (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The response of fish liver to a known enzyme inducer, i.e., beta-naphthoflavone, was also affected by the diet, which therefore should be carefully controlled in laboratory studies. Under field conditions MFO activities were significantly enhanced in the liver of O. mykiss kept in polluted river water as well as in the liver of the seawater fish Diplodus annularis collected from a polluted harbour area, as compared to specimens of the same species collected from an unpolluted reference area.     

Feprazone: an inducer of the P450 II B family of proteins in the rat

The ability of feprazone to induce the hepatic microsomal mixed-function oxidases was investigated in the rat, with emphasis being placed on the nature of the cytochrome P-450 family induced. Treatment with feprazone enhanced the p-hydroxylation of aniline and the dealkylations of benzphetamine and pentoxyresorufin but had no effect on the O-deethylation of ethoxyresorufin. The same treatment had no major effect on total cytochrome P-450 levels but increased the spectral interaction of metyrapone with reduced cytochrome P-450. Immunoblots employing monospecific polyclonal antibodies revealed that feprazone induces the apoprotein levels of the P450 II B, but not of the P450 I, family. It is concluded that feprazone is an inducer of the rat hepatic mixed-function oxidase system showing selectivity toward the P450 II B family.     

Comparative studies of rat liver and lung NADPH-cytochrome c reductase

NADPH-cytochrome c reductase, the flavoprotein component of the liver microsomal mixed-function oxidases, has been compared to the corresponding rat lung microsomal enzyme. Both enzymes were purified by the same methods and have identical ionic strength optima towards the reduction of cytochrome c. Antibody directed against the liver reductase identically inhibited the reduction of cytochrome c and ferricyanide by both enzymes. Double diffusion immunoprecipitation on Ouchterlony plates of deoxycholate-solubilized liver and lung microsomes resulted in converging precipitin lines indicating similar antigenic sites. The apparent molecular weights of the detergent-solubilized and bromelain-solubilized lung enzymes were determined by sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to be 79 000 and 71 000, respectively. From the above criteria we conclude that the enzymes in these two tissues are very similar or identical proteins.     

The oxidative dealkylation of insecticidal phosphoric acid triesters by mammalian liver enzymes

1. The dealkylation of the insecticidal phosphoric acid triester, 2-chloro-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)vinyl diethyl phosphate, proceeds in mammalian liver slices via an oxidative mechanism and not by hydrolysis. 2. The enzyme that catalyses the reaction is located in the microsomal fraction of liver homogenate and is dependent for activity on molecular oxygen and NADPH. 3. There are large species differences between rat, mouse, rabbit and dog in the activity of the enzymes, the relative rates of dealkylation being 1, 8, 24 and 88 respectively in liver slices. 4. Dimethyl and di-isopropyl phosphate triesters are also dealkylated by rabbit liver microsomal preparations. 5. The mechanism of dealkylation involves hydroxylation at the alpha-carbon atom of an alkyl group, which is removed as the corresponding aldehyde, and is thus analogous to that of similar reactions catalysed by the microsomal mixed-function oxidases. 6. The relevance of these findings in the toxicology of phosphoric acid triesters is discussed.     

Cytochrome P-450 and hydroxylating activity of microsomal preparations from whole houseflies

1. A new microsomal preparation, obtained from whole houseflies is described in terms of its cytochrome P-450 content and its hydroxylating activity. 2. Microsomes prepared from whole-fly brei, obtained with the aid of a mortar (a procedure that avoids the destruction of sarcosomes), contain 0.265nmol of cytochrome P-450 and hydroxylate naphthalene at a rate of 28.5nmol/mg of microsomal protein in 30min at 30 degrees C. This corresponds to 104nmol of naphthalene hydroxylated/nmol of cytochrome P-450. This is the highest rate ever reported for housefly and rat liver microsomal preparations. 3. Microsomal fractions prepared by procedures that do not retain the integrity of sarcosomes show the presence in the CO-difference spectrum of a 428nm peak. This cytochrome is associated with sarcosomal microsomes and it may be involved in the inhibition of insect microsomal mixed-function oxidases, although other factors cannot be discarded at present. 4. The inability to show cytochrome P-450 in microsomal fractions isolated from whole houseflies by other procedures may be at least partially due to a masking effect brought about by contamination with the sarcosomal cytochrome.     

Metabolic activation of 3-amino-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole, a highly mutagenic principle in tryptophan pyrolysate, by rat liver enzymes.

3-Amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole (Trp-P-2), a mutagenic principle in tryptophan pyrolysates, binds to DNA after metabolic activation by rat liver enzymes. The enzymes for activation of Trp-P-2 were found in both microsomes and the cytosol. The reaction required NADPH and ATP, metabolic and was inhibited by 7,8-benzoflavone. Considerable binding was observed with only microsomes as enzyme source, but further addition of cytosol enhanced the binding, enhancement depending on the amount of cytosol added. Inducers for microsomal mixed-function oxidases induced activating enzyme(s) for Trp-P-2, 3-methylcholanthrene being most effective, followed by polychlorinated biphenyls and then phenobarbital.     

Inhibition of rat hepatic mixed function oxidases by antimalarial drugs: selectivity for cytochromes P-450 and P-448

Intraperitoneal administration of chloroquine, primaquine and quinacrine to rats resulted in inhibition of the hepatic microsomal mixed-function oxidases. The N-demethylation of benzphetamine (cytochrome P-450) was inhibited by chloroquine only while the O-deethylation of ethoxyresorufin (cytochrome P-448) was inhibited by primaquine and quinacrine. When incubated with hepatic microsomes from phenobarbital-pretreated rats, chloroquine and primaquine, but not quinacrine, caused a concentration-dependent inhibition of benzphetamine N-demethylase activity. Incubation of hepatic microsomes from beta-naphthoflavone rats with primaquine and quinacrine, but not chloroquine, resulted in a concentration-dependent inhibition of the O-deethylation of ethoxyresorufin. These observations demonstrate that chloroquine and quinacrine are specific inhibitors of cytochromes P-450 and P-448, respectively.     

Third instar nymphs of Rhodnius prolixus exposed to alpha-cyanopyrethroids: from hyperactivity to death

The hyperactivity, incoordination, recovery, and mortality produced by four alpha-cyanopyrethroids usually used for Chagas disease vector control (beta-cypermethrin, beta-cyfluthrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, and deltamethrin) were evaluated on third instar nymphs of Rhodnius prolixus. All pyrethroids modified the locomotor activity of the nymphs, which increased linearly as a function of the log of insecticide concentration. lambda-Cyhalothrin showed the lowest values of Effective Concentration 50%, Lethal Concentration 50%, Effective Time 50%, and Lethal Time 50% when insecticides were applied by contact with treated filter papers. Recovery from incoordination was observed after topical application of the insecticides. The recovery was inhibited by the simultaneous application of piperonyl butoxide, suggesting that biotransformation by mixed-function microsomal oxidases is involved in the process of recovery.     

Effect of DDT on hepatic mixed-function oxidase activity in normal and vitamin A-deficient rats

Feeding of vitamin A-deficient diet to male weanling rats for 10 weeks resulted in significant decrease in the body weight and marked reduction in the hepatic vitamin A content. The levels of hepatic phase I microsomal enzymes cytochrome P-450, cytochrome b5, aminopyrine N-demethylase and arylhydrocarbon hydroxylase were found to be substantially reduced by vitamin A-deficiency. Also, the activity of phase II microsomal UDP - glucuronyl transferase enzyme was significantly decreased in deficient animals. Following repeated oral administration of DDT (15 mg/kg/body wt/day) for 21 days, the phase I microsomal enzymes were induced to a greater extent in controls as compared to deficient animals. UDP - glucuronyltransferase remained insensitive to DDT induction. The results imply that the capacity for induction of the hepatic mixed-function oxidase enzyme system is impaired in deficient animals concurrently exposed to DDT.     

Changes in certain kinetic properties of hepatic microsomal aniline hydroxylase and ethylmorphine demethylase associated with postnatal development and maturation in male rats

1. Changes in certain kinetic properties (V(max.) and apparent K(m)) of hepatic microsomal mixed-function oxidases have been studied as a function of postnatal development and maturation in male rats. 2. Microsomal cytochrome P-450 content changed only slightly between 1 and 12 weeks of age. 3. Aniline hydroxylase activity (V(max.)) increased abruptly between 1 and 2 weeks of age to greater than adult activities and then returned to a plateau value between 4(1/2) and 12 weeks of age. Ethylmorphine demethylase activity remained low and relatively constant between 1 and 3 weeks of age and then increased markedly ( approximately 100%) between 3 and 4(1/2) weeks. 4. The apparent Michaelis constant (K(m)) for aniline hydroxylation increased almost linearly with time between 1 and 6 weeks of age and tended to reach a plateau value thereafter. The apparent K(m) for ethylmorphine demethylation increased between 1 and 3 weeks of age and then decreased abruptly to a constant value between 6 and 12 weeks. 5. The data indicate that developmental changes in the activity of these microsomal oxidases do not correlate temporally with each other or with changes in microsomal cytochrome P-450 content. 6. The most dramatic changes in enzyme activity were associated with early development (1-3 weeks) and weaning (3-4 weeks). 7. Changes in weight of seminal vesicle, a criterion of sexual maturation in male rats, were most prominent between 6 and 8 weeks of age and thus appeared to be separated in time from the prominent changes in enzyme activity.     

Role of ketone bodies in the diabetes-induced changes in hepatic mixed-function oxidase activities

In order to assess the role of ketone bodies in the diabetes-induced changes in hepatic mixed-function oxidase activity, rats rendered hyperketonaemic by dietary administration of medium chain triacylglycerols were compared with streptozotocin treated rats. Both groups of animals became hyperketonaemic but only the latter were hyperglycaemic. Treatment with streptozotocin or medium chain triacylglycerols gave rise to marked increases in the O-dealkylations of ethoxyresorufin, ethoxycoumarin and pentoxyresorufin, the p-hydroxylation of aniline and the N-demethylation of dimethylnitrosamine. It is concluded that the streptozotocin-induced changes in hepatic mixed-function oxidases are mediated, at least partly, by the high levels of ketone bodies.     

Modifications of drug metabolism by disulfiram and diethyldithiocarbamate. I. Mixed-function oxygenase.

Disulfiram and diethyldithiocarbamate were administered to rats for 4 days alone (300 mg/kg, daily, per os) or in combination with phenobarbital (80 mg/kg, daily, i.p.), in order to observe the effects of these compounds on the microsomal membrane components and on the mixed-function oxygenase system. Both disulfiram and diethyldithiocarbamate increased the liver to body weight ratio, and the total hepatic protein content. Disulfiram significantly increased also the microsomal protein and phospholipid contents. Diethyldithiocarbamate and disulfiram partially prevented the increase of microsomal protein and phospholipid contents caused by phenobarbital. Disulfiram and diethyldithiocarbamate decreased the amount of cytochrome P-450 and P-420, and the activity of p-nitroanisole O-demethylase. These changes were more pronounced after diethyldithiocarbamate than after disulfiram treatment. On the contrary, the activity of NADPH-cytochrome c reductase was enhanced only by disulfiram. The induction by phenobarbital of cytochrome P-450 and p-nitrosanisole O-demethylase was partially prevented on concomitant treatment with disulfiram and diethyldithiocarbamate. These compounds. however, had an additive effect with phenobarbital in enhancing the microsomal NADPH-cytochrome c reductase activity.     

Toxicity of endosulfan on kidney of male rats in relation to drug metabolizing enzymes and microsomal lipid peroxidation

Endosulfan administration (po, 15 and 30 days at 7.5 and 10 mg/kg body wt respectively) inhibited the activity of microsomal mixed function oxidases in kidney tissue of male rats. Microsomal and cytosolic protein contents of kidney were significantly increased following 30 days endosulfan exposures. Profound induction in the activity profiles of alcohol dehydrogenase and cytosolic glutathione s-transferase was noticed, however, no such change was apparent in the activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase. Microsomal preparations from treated animals showed a dose and duration dependent increase in spontaneous lipid peroxidation. The observed biochemical changes persisted even after 7 days normalcy allowance provided after the endosulfan (10 mg/kg body wt) withdrawl. The results suggest a substantial renal toxicity of endosulfan to male rats in relation to microsomal mixed function oxidases and associated functions which possibly resulted from lipid peroxidative damage of microsomal membrane in treated animals.     

Inhibition of p-nitroanisole O-demethylation in perfused rat liver by potassium cyanide

The effect of potassium cyanide on p-nitroanisole O-demethylation in perfused rat livers has been examined. Cyanide (2 mm), an inhibitor of cytochrome oxidase, diminished p-nitroanisole O-demethylation by 50–75% in perfused livers from normal and phenobarbital-treated rats, but had much less effect on hepatic microsomal p-nitroanisole O-demethylation. The inhibition was also observed in livers where the activity of the pentose phosphate shunt was abolished by pretreatment with 6-aminonicotinamide. Cyanide infusion decreased hepatic $\text{ATP}\text{ADP}$ ratios and cellular concentrations of glutamate, α-ketoglutarate, and isocitrate, but caused an increase in the $\text{NADPV}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{NADPH}$ ratio. Rates of NADPH generation via the pentose phosphate shunt were unchanged by cyanide, and hepatic concentrations of glucose 6-phosphate were markedly increased by cyanide. Thus, inhibition of p-nitroanisole metabolism could not be explained solely by a direct interaction of cyanide with mixed-function oxidases or diminished NADPH generation via the pentose cycle. These data indicate that cyanide inhibits mixed-function oxidation in intact cells by diminishing the generation of NADPH from sources other than the pentose cycle. Further, these data are consistent with the hypothesis that some NADPH for mixed-function oxidation arises from cyanidesensitive mitochondrial sources.