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G Labbe

Publications and source records attributed to G Labbe.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Decrease in hepatic cytochrome P450 after interleukin-2 immunotherapy.

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) has been shown to decrease cytochrome P450 (CYP) mRNAs and proteins in cultured rat hepatocytes, and IL-2 administration decreases CYPs in rats. Although high doses of IL-2 are administered to cancer patients, the effect on human CYPs has not yet been determined. Patients with hepatic metastases from colon or rectum carcinomas were randomly allocated to various daily doses of human recombinant IL-2 (from 0 to 12.10(6) units/m(2)). IL-2 was infused from day 7 to day 3 before hepatectomy and the conservation of a non-tumorous liver fragment in liquid nitrogen. Hepatic CYPs and monooxygenase activities were not significantly decreased in 5 patients receiving daily doses of 3 or 6 10(6) IL-2 units/m2, compared to 7 patients who did not receive IL-2. In contrast, in 6 patients receiving daily doses of 9 or 12 x 10(6) IL-2 units/m2, the mean values for immunoreactive CYP1A2, CYP2C, CYP2E1, and CYP3A4 were 37, 45, 60 and 39%, respectively, of those in controls; total CYP was significantly decreased by 34%, methoxyresorufin O-demethylation by 62%, and erythromycin N-demethylation by 50%. These observations suggest that high doses of IL-2 may decrease total CYP and monooxygenase activities in man.

Adenocarcinoma

The interleukin-2 receptor down-regulates the expression of cytochrome P450 in cultured rat hepatocytes.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Interleukin (IL) 2 is used in advanced cancers, but its effects on cytochrome P450 remain unknown. Other cytokines down-regulate hepatic cytochrome P450, but it is not known whether this involves cytokine receptors. The aim of this study was to determine whether the IL-2 receptor is expressed on hepatocytes and whether its activation by IL-2 depresses cytochrome P450 in cultured rat hepatocytes. METHODS: A monoclonal antibody specific for the rat IL-2 receptor alpha chain was used to label the receptor, whereas effects on cytochrome P450 were determined after 24 hours of culture with human recombinant IL-2 (5000 U/mL). RESULTS: The presence of the IL-2 receptor in hepatocytes was shown by immunoblots, flow cytometry, and scanning confocal microscopy. IL-2 caused a 46% decrease in total cytochrome P450; a 35%, 35%, 36%, 26%, and 56% decrease in immunoreactive cytochrome P4501A1, 2B, 2C11, 2D1, and 3A, respectively; and a marked decrease in cytochrome P4503A2 and 2C11 messenger RNAs. Addition to the culture medium of the anti-receptor antibody or the tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein prevented the IL-2-mediated decrease in cytochrome P450. CONCLUSIONS: IL-2 down-regulates the expression of cytochrome P450 genes in cultured rat hepatocytes by interacting with its receptor expressed on hepatocytes.

Animals

Administration of high doses of human recombinant interleukin-2 decreases the expression of several cytochromes P-450 in the rat.

Human recombinant interleukin-2 (IL-2) administration is being tested in patients with advanced cancer. Its effects on the expression of cytochromes P-450 were determined in rats. IL-2 administration (1-25 x 10(6) U/kg i.v. twice daily for 1 to 4 days) resulted in a time- and dose-dependent decrease in cytochrome P-450 measured by the absorbance of its Fe(++)-CO complex. After 25 x 10(6) U/kg twice daily for 4 days, cytochrome P-450 decreased 44%; immunoreactive cytochrome P-450 1A1 decreased nonsignificantly (22%); but cytochrome P-450 1A2 decreased 68%; 2B1/2, 50%; 2C11, 75%; 2D1, 36%; and 3A, 70%. Aminopyrine N-demethylase activity decreased 53%, ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase 64%, benzo(a)pyrene hydroxylase 71%, ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase 42%, pentoxyresorufin O-dealkylase 81% and erythromycin N-demethylase 56%. In rats treated with 3-methylcholanthrene for 4 days, IL-2 coadministration (25 x 10(6) U/kg i.v. twice daily for 4 days) did not decrease significantly immunoreactive cytochrome P-450 1A1 and 1A2, whereas cytochromes P-450 2B1/2, 2C11 and 3A decreased 39, 54 and 67%, respectively. In rats treated with phenobarbital for 4 days, IL-2 coadministration decreased immunoreactive cytochromes P-450 2B1/2 29%, whereas cytochromes P-450 1A2, 2C11 and 3A decreased 38, 63 and 67%, respectively. We conclude that administration of high doses of IL-2 decreases the expression of several cytochromes P-450 in rats. Microsomal enzyme inducers appear to limit the effects of IL-2 on the induced forms of cytochromes P-450. Because much lower doses are used in humans, their potential effects on drug metabolism cannot be assessed from present results.

Animals

Mechanism for the protective effects of silymarin against carbon tetrachloride-induced lipid peroxidation and hepatotoxicity in mice. Evidence that silymarin acts both as an inhibitor of metabolic activation and as a chain-breaking antioxidant.

Administration of silymarin (800 mg/kg i.p.) 30 min before carbon tetrachloride (18 microL/kg i.p.) did not modify total hepatic levels of CCl4 and metabolites in mice, but decreased by 40% the in vivo covalent binding of CCl4 metabolites to hepatic lipids at 2 hr. This pretreatment decreased by 60% the exhalation of ethane during the first hour after CCl4, and decreased by 50% the incidence of liver cell necrosis. In vitro, silymarin (800 micrograms/mL) decreased by 50 to 70% various monooxygenase activities, and decreased by 20% the covalent binding of CCl4 metabolites to microsomal proteins. Silymarin (800 micrograms/mL) decreased by 70% in vitro lipid peroxidation mediated by CCl4 metabolites, and decreased by 90% peroxidation mediated by NADPH alone. Silibinin, one of the three isomers composing silymarin, also decreased carbon tetrachloride-induced lipid peroxidation; this effect, however, was less than that of silymarin in vitro, and was more transient in vivo. Pretreatment with silibinin (800 mg/kg i.p.) 30 min before CCl4 (18 microL/kg i.p.) did not improve SGPT activity or liver histology at 24 hr. We conclude that silymarin prevents carbon tetrachloride-induced lipid peroxidation and hepatotoxicity in mice, firstly, by decreasing the metabolic activation of CCl4, and, secondly, by acting as a chain-breaking antioxidant.

7-Alkoxycoumarin O-Dealkylase

Stereoselective and nonstereoselective effects of ibuprofen enantiomers on mitochondrial beta-oxidation of fatty acids.

The effects of the R-(-) and S-(+)ibuprofen enantiomers were first studied in vitro with mouse liver mitochondria incubated in the presence of various concentrations of exogenous coenzyme A. In the presence of a low concentration of coenzyme A (2.5 microM), the R-(-)enantiomer (which forms an acylcoenzyme A) inhibited stereoselectively the beta oxidation of [1-14C]palmitic acid but not that of [1-14C]palmitoyl-L-carnitine (which can directly enter the mitochondria). In the presence, however, of a concentration of coenzyme A (50 microM) reproducing that present in liver cell cytosol, both enantiomers (2 mM) slightly inhibited the beta oxidation of [1-14C]palmitic acid and markedly inhibited the beta oxidation of [1-14C]octanoic acid and [1-14C]butyric acid. In vivo, both enantiomers (1 mmol.kg-1) similarly inhibited the formation of [14C]CO2 from [1-14C]fatty acids. Both enantiomers similarly decreased plasma ketone bodies. Both similarly increased hepatic triglycerides, and both produced mild microvesicular steatosis of the liver. We conclude that both ibuprofen enantiomers inhibit beta oxidation of fatty acids in vitro and in vivo. In addition, the R-(-)enantiomer may stereoselectively sequester coenzyme A; at low concentrations of coenzyme A in vitro, this may stereoselectively inhibit the mitochondrial uptake and beta oxidation of long chain fatty acids.

Animals

Amiodarone inhibits the mitochondrial beta-oxidation of fatty acids and produces microvesicular steatosis of the liver in mice.

Amiodarone has been shown to produce microvesicular steatosis of the liver in some recipients. We have determined the effects of amiodarone on the mitochondrial oxidation of fatty acids in mice. In vitro, the formation of 14C-acid-soluble beta-oxidation products from [U-14C]palmitic acid by mouse liver mitochondria was decreased by 92% in the presence of 125 microM amiodarone and by 94% in the presence of 125 microM N-desethylamiodarone. Inhibition due to 100 or 150 microM amiodarone persisted in the presence of 5 mM acetoacetate, whereas acetoacetate totally relieved inhibition due to 15 microM rotenone. In vivo, exhalation of [14C]CO2 from [U-14C]palmitic acid was decreased by 31, 40, 58 and 78%, respectively, in mice receiving 19, 25, 50 and 100 mg.kg-1 of amiodarone hydrochloride 1 hr before the administration of [U-14C]palmitic acid. One hour after 100 mg.kg-1, the exhalation of [14C]CO2 from [1-14C]palmitic acid, [1-14C]octanoic acid or [1-14C]butyric acid was decreased by 78, 72 and 53%, respectively. Exhalation of [14C]CO2 from [1-14C]palmitic acid was normal between 6 and 9 hr after administration of 100 mg.kg-1 of amiodarone hydrochloride, but was still inhibited by 71 and 37%, 24 and 48 hr after 600 mg.kg-1. Twenty four hours after the latter dose of amiodarone, hepatic triglycerides were increased by 150%, and there was microvesicular steatosis of the liver. We conclude that amiodarone inhibits the mitochondrial beta-oxidation of fatty acids and produces microvesicular steatosis of the liver in mice.

Amiodarone

Inhibition of rat liver estrogen 2/4-hydroxylase activity by troleandomycin: comparison with erythromycin and roxithromycin.

Administration of troleandomycin (0.5 mmol.kg-1 p.o. daily for 5 days) decreased by 61% and 36%, respectively, the estradiol and ethinylestradiol 2/4-hydroxylase activities of hepatic microsomes from male Sprague-Dawley rats killed 2 hr after the last dose. This decrease did not appear to be due to the in vivo formation of the inactive cytochrome P-450 p Fe(II)-metabolite complex, since disruption of this complex with potassium ferricyanide did not increase estrogen hydroxylase activities. Troleandomycin administration, however, essentially suppressed cytochrome P-450 UT-A (one of the P-450 forms involved in the hydroxylation of estrogens) and resulted in the appearance of cytochrome P-450 forms whose estradiol hydroxylase activity was inhibitable by troleandomycin in vitro. Similarly, troleandomycin (2 mM) inhibited by 60% estradiol and ethinylestradiol 2/4-hydroxylase activities in microsomes from dexamethasone-treated rats, although it had no inhibitory effect in microsomes from control rats. In contrast, erythromycin and roxithromycin (2 mM) exerted no inhibitory effect, even in microsomes from dexamethasone-treated rats. In vivo, these macrolides (0.5 mmol.kg-1 p.o. daily for 5 days) decreased moderately cytochrome P-450 UT-A levels and estradiol 2/4-hydroxylase activity, and did not modify ethinylestradiol 2/4-hydroxylase activity. We conclude that the administration of troleandomycin, but not that of erythromycin or roxithromycin, decreases ethinylestradiol 2/4-hydroxylase activity in male rat liver microsomes, as a possible consequence of decreased cytochrome P-450 UT-A levels and of the induction of glucocorticoid-responsive P-450 forms whose ethinylestradiol hydroxylase activity is inhibitable by troleandomycin.

Animals

Tianeptine, a new tricyclic antidepressant metabolized by beta-oxidation of its heptanoic side chain, inhibits the mitochondrial oxidation of medium and short chain fatty acids in mice.

Tianeptine is a new tricyclic antidepressant which is metabolized mainly by beta-oxidation of its heptanoic side chain. We determined the effects of tianeptine on the mitochondrial oxidation of natural fatty acids in mice. In vitro, tianeptine (0.5 mM) inhibited by only 32% the formation of beta-oxidation products from [1-14C]palmitic acid by hepatic mitochondria, but inhibited by 71% that from [1-14C]octanoic acid and by 51% that from [1-14C]butyric acid. The activity of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, assessed as the in vitro formation of [14C]CO2 from [1-14C]acetylcoenzyme A was decreased by 51% in the presence of tianeptine (0.5 mM). The inhibition of both beta-oxidation and the tricarboxylic acid cycle appeared reversible in mitochondria from mice exposed to tianeptine in vivo but incubated in vitro without tianeptine. In vivo, administration of tianeptine (0.0625 mmol/kg i.p.), decreased by 53 and 58%, respectively, the formation of [14C]CO2 from [1-14C]octanoic acid and [1-14C]butyric acid, but did not significantly decrease that from [1-14C]palmitic acid. After administration of high doses of tianeptine, however, formation of [14C]CO2 from [1-14C]palmitic acid became inhibited as well, transiently after 0.25 mmol/kg and durably (greater than 24 hr) after 0.75 mmol/kg i.p. Hepatic triglycerides were increased 24 hr after administration of 0.75 mmol/kg i.p. of tianeptine, but not after 0.25 mmol/kg i.p. Microvesicular steatosis of the liver was observed in some mice after 0.75 mmol/kg i.p., but not after 0.5 mmol/kg i.p. We conclude that tianeptine inhibits the oxidation of medium- and short-chain fatty acids in mice. Microvesicular steatosis, however, requires very large doses in mice (0.75 mmol/kg i.p., i.e. 600-times the oral dose in humans), and is therefore unlikely to occur in humans.

Animals

Metabolic activation of the antidepressant tianeptine. I. Cytochrome P-450-mediated in vitro covalent binding.

Incubation under air of [14C]tianeptine (0.5 mM) with a NADPH-generating system and hamster, mouse or rat liver microsomes resulted in the in vitro covalent binding of [14C]tianeptine metabolites to microsomal proteins. Covalent binding to hamster liver microsomes required NADPH and oxygen; it was decreased in the presence of the cytochrome P-450 inhibitors, carbon monoxide, piperonyl butoxide (4 mM), and SKF 525-A (4 mM) or in the presence of the nucleophile, glutathione (1 or 4 mM). In vitro covalent binding to hamster liver microsomes was not decreased in the presence of quinidine (1 microM), and was similar with microsomes from either female Dark Agouti, or female Sprague-Dawley rats. In contrast, in vitro covalent binding to hamster liver microsomes was decreased in the presence of troleandomycin (0.25 mM), while covalent binding was increased with microsomes from either hamsters, mice or rats pretreated with dexamethasone. Preincubation with IgG antibodies directed against rabbit liver glucocorticoid-inducible cytochrome P-450 3c(P-450 IIIA4) decreased in vitro covalent binding by 53 and 89%, respectively, with microsomes from control hamsters and dexamethasone-pretreated hamsters, and by 60 and 81%, respectively, with microsomes from control and dexamethasone-pretreated rats. We conclude that tianeptine is activated by hamster, mouse and rat liver cytochrome P-450 into a reactive metabolite. Metabolic activation is mediated in part by glucocorticoid-inducible isoenzymes but not by the isoenzyme metabolizing debrisoquine. In vivo studies are reported in the accompanying paper.

Animals

Metabolic activation of the antidepressant tianeptine. II. In vivo covalent binding and toxicological studies at sublethal doses.

Administration of [14C]tianeptine (0.5 mmol/kg i.p.) to non-pretreated hamsters resulted in the in vivo covalent binding of [14C]tianeptine metabolites to liver, lung and kidney proteins; this very high dose (360-fold the human therapeutic dose) depleted hepatic glutathione by 60%, and increased SGPT activity 5-fold. Lower doses (0.25 and 0.125 mmol/kg) depleted hepatic glutathione to a lesser extent and did not increase SGPT activity. Pretreatment of hamsters with piperonyl butoxide decreased in vivo covalent binding to liver proteins, and prevented the increase in SGPT activity after administration of tianeptine (0.5 mmol/kg i.p.). In contrast, pretreatment of hamsters with dexamethasone increased in vivo covalent binding to liver proteins, and increased SGPT activity after administration of tianeptine (0.5 mmol/kg i.p.). Nevertheless, liver cell necrosis was histologically absent 24 hr after the administration of tianeptine (0.5 mmol/kg i.p.) to non-pretreated or dexamethasone-pretreated hamsters. In vivo covalent binding to liver proteins also occurred in mice and rats, being increased by 100% in dexamethasone-pretreated animals. In vivo covalent binding to liver proteins was similar in untreated female Dark Agouti rats and in female Sprague-Dawley rats. These results show that tianeptine is transformed in vivo by cytochrome P-450, including glucocorticoid-inducible isoenzymes, into chemically reactive metabolites that covalently bind to tissue proteins. The metabolites, however, exhibit no direct hepatotoxic potential in hamsters below the sublethal dose of 0.5 mmol/kg i.p. The predictive value of this study regarding possible idiosyncratic and immunoallergic reactions in humans remains unknown.

Alanine Transaminase

Suicide inactivation of cytochrome P-450 by methoxsalen. Evidence for the covalent binding of a reactive intermediate to the protein moiety.

Incubation of rat liver microsomes with [3H]methoxsalen and NADPH resulted in the covalent binding of a methoxsalen intermediate to proteins comigrating with cytochromes P-450 UT-A, PB-B/D, ISF-G and PCN-E. Binding was increased by pretreatments with phenobarbital, beta-naphthoflavone (beta NF) and dexamethasone. Such pretreatments also increased the loss of CO-binding capacity either after administration of methoxsalen, or after incubation of hepatic microsomes with methoxsalen and NADPH. Immunoprecipitation of the methoxsalen metabolite-protein adducts in phenobarbital-induced microsomes was moderate with anti-UT-A antibodies, but marked with anti-PB-B/D and anti-PCN-E antibodies. Immunoprecipitation was observed also with anti-ISF-G (anti-beta NF-B) antibodies in beta NF-induced microsomes. Methoxsalen (0.25 mM) inhibited markedly the benzphetamine demethylase activity of phenobarbital-induced microsomes and the erythromycin demethylase activity of dexamethasone-induced microsomes. Whereas methoxsalen itself did not produce any binding spectrum, in contrast either in vivo administration of methoxsalen or incubation in vitro with methoxsalen and NADPH resulted in a low-to-high spin conversion of cytochrome P-450 as suggested by the appearance of a spectrum analogous to a type I binding spectrum. This low-to-high spin conversion was apparently due to a methoxsalen intermediate (probably, covalently bound to the protein and preventing partial sixth ligation of the iron). We conclude that suicide inactivation of cytochrome P-450 by methoxsalen is related to the covalent binding of a methoxsalen intermediate to the protein moiety of several cytochrome P-450 isoenzymes (including UT-A, PB-B/D, PCN-E as well as ISF-G and/or beta NF-B).

Animals

Effects of clarithromycin on cytochrome P-450. Comparison with other macrolides.

Repeated administration of clarithromycin (0.5 mmol.kg-1 p.o. daily for 5 days) to rats increased markedly the same cytochrome P-450 isoenzyme (P-450p) as that induced by troleandomycin. Clarithromycin, however, did not form cytochrome P-450 Fe(II)-metabolite complexes in vitro with microsomes from clarithromycin-treated rats or in vivo after repeated doses of clarithromycin. Nevertheless, clarithromycin formed cytochrome P-450 Fe(II)-metabolite complexes with microsomes from dexamethasone-treated rats in vitro, or after administration to dexamethasone-treated rats in vivo. Similar effects were observed with roxithromycin. In contrast, erythromycin and troleandomycin formed metabolic complexes when given alone, whereas josamycin, midecamycin and spiramycin did not form complexes, even in dexamethasone-treated rats. We conclude that clarithromycin and roxithromycin induce cytochrome P-450p, but do not form complexes with this isoenzyme, although they do form complexes with other glucocorticoid-inducible isoenzymes. We propose that macrolides may be classified into three groups, those forming complexes when given alone (e.g., erythromycin and troleandomycin), those forming complexes only in glucocorticoid-pretreated rats (clarithromycin and roxithromycin) and those not forming complexes (josamycin, midecamycin and spiramycin).

Animals

Amineptine, a tricyclic antidepressant, inhibits the mitochondrial oxidation of fatty acids and produces microvesicular steatosis of the liver in mice.

Microvesicular steatosis of the liver has been reported in two subjects receiving amineptine (a tricyclic antidepressant metabolized by beta-oxidation of its acyl chain). A similar disease is observed after ingestion of drugs which inhibit hepatic mitochondrial fatty acid beta-oxidation, or in subjects with various inborn defects in this metabolic pathway. We therefore determined the effects of amineptine on the mitochondrial oxidation of fatty acids in mice. In vitro, the formation of beta-oxidation products during incubation of palmitic acid with mouse liver mitochondria and the various cofactors necessary for beta-oxidation was inhibited by 27, 33, 46 and 57% respectively, in the presence of 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 mM of amineptine. Inhibition was reversible. Tricarboxylic acid cycle activity, assessed by the in vitro formation of [14C]CO2 from [1-14C]acetyl coenzyme A by mouse liver mitochondria, was inhibited by 22, 23, 47, 54, 60 and 62%, respectively, in the presence of 0.0625, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 mM of amineptine. In vivo, administration of amineptine, 0.5 and 0.75 mmol.kg-1, inhibited by 70 and 84%, respectively, the exhalation of [14C] CO2 during the first 3 hr after the administration of a tracer dose of [U-14C]palmitic acid. Administration of amineptine, 0.0625, 0.25, 0.5 or 1 mmol.kg-1, 6 hr before the measurement, increased hepatic triglycerides by 73, 139, 295 and 320%, respectively. After 1 mmol.kg-1, accumulation of hepatic triglycerides was maximum at 24 hr, reaching 5-fold the control value; liver histology at that time showed microvesicular steatosis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acetyl Coenzyme A

Effects of methoxsalen on the metabolism of acetaminophen in humans.

We reported recently that the drug methoxsalen, a potent suicide inhibitor of hepatic cytochrome P-450, decreases the metabolic activation of acetaminophen and prevents its hepatotoxicity in mice. We have now studied the effects of methoxsalen on the metabolism of acetaminophen in humans. In vitro, 100 microM methoxsalen decreased by 40% the covalent binding of a [3H]acetaminophen metabolite to microsomal proteins after incubation of [3H]acetaminophen with human liver microsomes and an NADPH-generating system. In vivo, a single oral dose of methoxsalen (30 mg), given 3 hr before acetaminophen (1 g), decreased by 38% the partial apparent oral salivary clearance of acetaminophen into glutathione-derived conjugates (the end products of its oxidative metabolism) in nine human volunteers. These observations demonstrate that methoxsalen decreases the metabolic activation of acetaminophen in humans.

Acetaminophen

The drug methoxsalen, a suicide substrate for cytochrome P-450, decreases the metabolic activation, and prevents the hepatotoxicity, of carbon tetrachloride in mice.

Methoxsalen, a potent suicide inhibitor of cytochrome P-450 that can be used in humans, might be of value for the prevention of hepatitis in subjects with carbon tetrachloride poisoning. As a preliminary step, we have determined its effects on the hepatotoxicity of carbon tetrachloride in mice. Several monooxygenase activities, the in vitro covalent binding of carbon tetrachloride metabolites to microsomal proteins, and in vitro microsomal lipid peroxidation initiated by carbon tetrachloride metabolites were decreased by 60-90% in microsomes from mice killed 2 hr after the administration of methoxsalen (250 mumol X kg-1); microsomal lipid peroxidation mediated by endogenous iron and NADPH was not modified. Administration of methoxsalen (250 mumol X kg-1) 30 min before carbon tetrachloride (0.1 ml X kg-1) decreased both the in vivo formation of conjugated dienes in microsomal lipids and the in vivo covalent binding of carbon tetrachloride metabolites to lipids and proteins. This pretreatment completely prevented the hepatotoxicity of carbon tetrachloride. Other cytochrome P-450 inhibitors (cimetidine, SKF 525-A or piperonyl butoxide) given at this low molar dose (250 mumol X kg-1) exerted no protective effect. Methoxsalen (500 mumol X kg-1) was also effective, but only partially, when given 30 min after carbon tetrachloride (0.025 ml X kg-1). We conclude that pretreatment with methoxsalen decreases the metabolic activation of carbon tetrachloride, and completely prevents its hepatotoxicity in mice. Post-treatment with methoxsalen must be given early and is only partially effective in mice.

Alanine Transaminase

Methoxsalen decreases the metabolic activation and prevents the hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity of chloroform in mice.

The effects of methoxsalen, a potent inhibitor of cytochrome P-450, on the hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity of chloroform have been determined in mice. Hepatic and renal monooxygenase activities and the in vitro covalent binding of chloroform metabolites to hepatic and renal microsomal proteins were decreased by 20-70% in microsomes from mice killed 2 hr after the administration of methoxsalen (250 mumol.kg-1ip) alone. Administration of methoxsalen (250 mumol.kg-1ip), 30 min before [14C]chloroform (1 ml.kg-1ip), did not modify blood levels of [14C]chloroform (and metabolites) but decreased the in vivo covalent binding of [14C]chloroform metabolites to hepatic and renal proteins 4 hr after the administration of [14C]chloroform. This pretreatment markedly decreased serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase activity, blood urea nitrogen, glucosuria, liver and kidney lesions, and mortality 24 hr after the administration of chloroform (0.125-1.5 ml.kg-1ip). Other cytochrome P-450 inhibitors (SKF 525-A or piperonyl butoxide), given at the same molar dose (250 mumol.kg-1ip), exerted no protective effect. Pretreatment with methoxsalen appears to decrease the metabolic activation of chloroform and essentially prevents its hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in mice. Methoxsalen may have use as a tool to determine the role of metabolic activation by cytochrome P-450 in the hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity of drugs and chemicals.

7-Alkoxycoumarin O-Dealkylase

Polymorphism of dextromethorphan oxidation in a French population.

Genetically-controlled drug oxidation capacity was studied using dextromethorphan, an anti-tussive drug, as the test compound in 103 healthy white French subjects (61 males and 42 females). Phenotyping was performed using the metabolic ratio (MR) calculated as MR = 0-10 h urinary output of dextromethorphan/0-10 h urinary output of dextrorphan, after oral administration of 40 mg (113.6 mumol) of dextromethorphan hydrobromide. The log MR was bimodally distributed: 99 subjects (96.1%) were phenotyped as extensive metabolizers; they had a log MR between -3.1 and -1.1, a urinary output of dextromethorphan below 5 mumol 10 h-1 and a urinary output of dextrorphan above 20 mumol 10 h-1. Four subjects (3.9%) were phenotyped as poor metabolizers; they had a log MR between -0.5 and +0.7, a urinary output of dextromethorphan above 5 mumol 10 h-1 and a urinary out of dextrorphan below 20 mumol 10 h-1.

Adult