Intestinal synthesis of 24-keto-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. A metabolite formed in vivo with high affinity for the vitamin D cytosolic receptor

24-Keto-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 has been identified as an intestinal metabolite of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 by ultraviolet absorbance, mass spectroscopy, and chemical reactivity. The metabolite was produced from 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and 1,24R,25-trihydroxyvitamin D3 in rat intestinal mucosa homogenates. 24-Keto-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 is present in vivo in the plasma and small intestinal mucosa of rats fed a stock diet, receiving no exogenous 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, and in the plasma and small intestinal mucosa of rats dosed chronically with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. 24-Keto-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 has affinity equivalent to 1,24R,25-trihydroxyvitamin D3 for the 3.7 S cytosolic receptor specific for 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in the intestine and thymus. In cytosolic preparations contaminated with the 5 S vitamin D-binding protein, both metabolites are about 7-fold less potent than 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. In contrast, in cytosolic preparations largely free of the 5 S binding protein, both metabolites are equipotent with the parent compound. No evidence was obtained supporting a substantial presence of 23-keto-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in vivo; nor was the latter compound generated in detectable amounts from 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 by intestinal homogenates. Thus, C-24 oxidation is a significant pathway of intestinal 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 metabolism that produces metabolites with high affinity for the cytosolic receptor which mediates vitamin D action.     

Retinoic acid synthesis by cytosol from the alcohol dehydrogenase negative deermouse

Cytosolic alcohol dehydrogenase in the deermouse is coded by a single genetic locus and a strain of the deermouse which is alcohol dehydrogenase negative exists. These two strains of the deermouse were used to extend insight into the role of cytosolic alcohol dehydrogenases in the conversion of retinol into retinoic acid. Retinoic acid synthesis from physiological concentrations of retinol (7.5 microM) with cytosol from the alcohol dehydrogenase negative deermouse was 13% (liver), 14% (kidney), 60% (testes), 78% (lung), and 100% (small intestinal mucosa) of that observed with cytosol from the positive deermouse. The rates in the negative strain ranged from 0.3 to 0.7 nmol/h/mg protein: sufficient to fulfill cellular needs for retinoic acid. Ten millimolar 4-methylpyrazole inhibited retinoic acid synthesis 92, 94, 26, and 30% in kidney, liver, lung, and testes of the positive deermouse, respectively, but only 50, 30, 0, and 0% in the same tissues from the negative deermouse. Ethanol (300 mM) did not inhibit retinoic acid synthesis in kidney cytosol from the negative strain. Therefore multiple cytosolic dehydrogenases, including alcohol dehydrogenases, contribute to retinol metabolism in vitro. The only enzyme(s) likely to be physiologically significant to retinoic acid synthesis in vivo, however, is the class of dehydrogenase, distinct from ethanol dehydrogenase, that is common to both the positive and the negative deermouse. This conclusion is supported by the data described above, the kinetics of retinoic acid synthesis and retinal reduction in kidney cytosol from the negative deermouse, and the very existence of the alcohol dehydrogenase negative deermouse. This work also shows that microsomes inhibit the cytosolic conversion of retinol into retinoic acid and that the synthesis of retinal, a retinoid that has no known function outside of the eye, does not reflect the ability or capacity of a sample to synthesize retinoic acid.     

(23S)-1,23,25-Trihydroxycholecalciferol, an intestinal metabolite of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol.

(23S)-23,25-Dihydroxycholecalciferol was converted into a polar metabolite in a calciferol-deficient chick kidney homogenate. The metabolite was identified as (23S)-1,23,25-trihydroxycholecalciferol by absorbance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, and by formation of derivatives. (23S)-1,23,25-Trihydroxycholecalciferol was also observed as a 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol metabolite in intestinal cells isolated from 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol-treated rat. The trihydroxy metabolite was 50-fold less potent than 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol in the chick intestinal 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol receptor assay.     

Arachidonic acid epoxidation: epoxyeicosatrienoic acids are endogenous constituents of rat liver

Epoxyeicosatrienoic acids have been isolated and purified from the livers of male rats. They were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometric techniques. These results expand the list of in vivo-produced eicosanoids. Their documented in vitro biological activities suggest a role for them in cell and tissue homeostasis.     

Formation of 19-nor-10-keto-25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in cultured mammalian cells

The results of normal mode calculations on the beta 4.4, beta 6.3, beta 5.6, and beta 7.2 structures of gramicidin A are compared with infrared and Raman spectra of crystalline native, crystalline Cs+-bound, and vesicle-bound gramicidin A. The observed frequencies and frequency splittings are in good agreement with an assignment of beta 5.6, beta 7.2, and beta 6.3 structures, respectively, to the gramicidin A molecules in the above three systems.     

Production of C-24- and C-23-oxidized metabolites of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol by cultured kidney cells (LLC PK1) and their presence in kidney in vivo.

1,25-Dihydroxy[3H]cholecalciferol was converted into several more-polar metabolites by a cultured pig kidney cell line (LLC PK1). The production of metabolites was stimulated by pretreating the cells with unlabelled 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol. A similar profile of metabolites was observed on high-pressure-liquid-chromatographic analysis of an extract from the kidneys of rats dosed intravenously with 1,25-dihydroxy[3H]cholecalciferol. Among the metabolites detected were 1,24,25-trihydroxycholecalciferol, 1,25-dihydroxy-24-oxocholecalciferol, 1,23,25-trihydroxy-24-oxocholecalciferol and 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol-26,23-lactone. The results are in accord with data reported for intestinal 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol metabolism [Napoli, Pramanik, Royal, Reinhardt & Horst (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 9100-9107]. These data indicate that C-23- and C-24-oxidation of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol are phenomena common to calciferol target tissues, and that regulation of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol homoeostasis is dependent on the rate of its metabolism in addition to the rate of its synthesis.     

Effects of low-chloride solutions on action potentials of sheep cadiac purkinje fibers

The rapid repolarization during phase 1 of the action potential of sheep cardiac purkinje fibers has been attributed to a time- and voltage-dependent chloride current. In part, this conclusion was based on experiments that showed a substantial slowing of phase 1 when larger, presumably impermeant, anions were substituted for chloride in tyrode’s solution. We have re- examined the electrical effects of low-chloride solutions. We recorded action potentials of sheep cardiac purkinje fibers in normal tyrode’s solution and in low-chloride solutions made by substituting sodium propionate, acetylglycinate, methylsulfate, or methanesulfonate for the NaCl of Tyrode’s solution. Total calcium was adjusted to keep calcium ion activity of test solutions equal to that of control solutions. Propionate gave qualitatively variable results in preliminary experiments; it was not tested further. Low-chloride solutions made with the other anions gave much more consistent results: phase 1 and the notch that often occurs between phases 1 and 2 were usually unaffected, and the action potential duration usually increased. The only apparent change in the resting potential was a transient 3-6 mV depolarization when low-chloride solution was first admitted to the chamber, and a symmetrical transient hyperpolarization when chloride was returned to normal. If a time- and voltage-dependent chloride current exists in sheep cardiac purkinje fibers, our results suggest that it plays little role in generating phase 1 of the action potential.