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[The determination of the folic acid content of foods of animal origin using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)].

The folic acid content of food of animal origin was determined by means of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Free folate (monoglutamate forms) and total folate (monoglutamate + polyglutamate forms) were differentiated. Liver (bovine 963, hog 136 micrograms/100 g) and kidney (bovine 410, hog 93 micrograms/100 g) contained the highest content of total folate, followed by egg (67 micrograms/100 g), soft cheese (44-62 micrograms/100 g), milk and other dairy products (3-28 micrograms/100 g). Chicken, fish, beef and pork contained only a low content of total folate (1-12 micrograms/100 g). The free folate portion ranged from 14.7 to 100% (mean 69.2%). The main folate derivatives tetrahydrofolic acid (THF), 5-methyl-THF and 5-formyl-THF showed the following distribution. In milk and milk products the mean was 70% for 5-formyl-THF, 20% for 5-methyl-THF and 10% for THF; in the other products the three derivatives were distributed about equally but the range of variation was high.

Animals↗

A phase I and pharmacokinetic study of 1843U89, a noncompetitive inhibitor of thymidylate synthase, in patients with advanced solid malignancies.

This study was performed to assess the feasibility of administering 1843U89, a potent, noncompetitive inhibitor of thymidylate synthase that does not require polyglutamation for activity, as a 2-min i.v. infusion daily for 5 days every 3 weeks, to determine whether folic acid supplementation ameliorates the toxic effects of 1843U89 and permits further dose escalation, and to recommend doses of 1843U89 administered without and with folic acid for further clinical evaluations. The study also sought to characterize the pharmacokinetic behavior of 1843U89 and to seek preliminary evidence of anticancer activity. Patients with advanced solid malignancies were treated with escalating doses of 1843U89 as a 2-min i.v. infusion daily for 5 days every 3 weeks. Initially, patients were treated in the absence of high-dose folic acid until dose-limiting toxicity was consistently noted. Next, patients were treated with escalating doses of 1843U89 preceded by 1000 mg of folic acid administered p.o. 30 min before each of the 5 daily doses of 1843U89. Patients (32) received 101 total courses of 1843U89 at doses ranging from 1 to 6 mg/m(2)/day with and without folic acid. At the 2 mg/m(2)/day dose level without folic acid, 2 of 7 new patients experienced dose-limiting toxicity, principally neutropenia, mucositis, and malaise in 3 of 11 courses. 1843U89 doses were further increased with folic acid to 6 mg/m(2)/day, but repetitive treatment was not feasible at this dose level because of an unacceptable high incidence of severe neutropenia and mucositis. Other toxicities included thrombocytopenia, rash, and fever. In contrast, repetitive treatment at the 5 mg/m(2)/day dose level was feasible. The pharmacokinetics of 1843U89 were neither dose dependent nor affected by folic acid. On day 1, clearance, terminal half-life, and steady-state volume of distribution values averaged 47.1 +/- 21.7 ml/min/m(2), 7.72 +/- 4.09 h, and 16.7 +/- 8.8 liter/m(2)/h, respectively. The results of the study indicate that the administration of 1843U89 as a 2-min infusion daily for 5 days every 3 weeks without and with folic acid is feasible at 1843U89 doses as high as 2 and 5 mg/m(2)/day, respectively. Because folic acid pretreatment results in no diminution of the antitumor activity of 1843U89 in preclinical studies and ameliorates the toxic effects of 1843U89 in both preclinical models and cancer patients, the therapeutic index of 1843U89 may be enhanced by folic acid pretreatment and, therefore, the development of 1843U89 with folic acid is warranted. However, the question of whether to administer 1843U89 at a dose of 2 mg/m(2)/day with folic acid, which is associated with negligible toxicity, or at its highest feasible dose with folic acid, 5 mg/m(2)/day, should be addressed in appropriately designed trials.

Adult↗

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of the distribution of naturally occurring folic acid derivatives in rat liver.

Procedures which allow extraction and quantitation of labile, reduced folic acid derivatives in rat liver have been developed. These procedures entail extraction of hepatic folates at 100 degrees C in 2% (w/v) sodium ascorbate, 0.2 M 2-mercaptoethanol, pH 7.85. The extract was treated with conjugase to hydrolyze folate polyglutamates and reverse-phase, ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography was used to separate the resulting monoglutamates which were measured by microbiological assay using Lactobacillus casei. Experiments with HPLC-purified standard derivatives, so treated, showed excellent stability of tetrahydropteroylglutamic acid (H4PteGlu), 10-formyl-H4PteGlu, 5-formyl-H4PteGlu, 5-methyl-H4PteGlu, and pteroylglutamic acid (PteGlu). Under these conditions, approximately 56% of H2PteGlu was recovered unchanged while about 27% was converted to PteGlu; 5,10-methylene-H4PteGlu was quantitatively recovered as H4PteGlu. These procedures were applied to the task of measuring the distribution of naturally occurring folate cofactors in rat liver. These results indicated that rat liver folates have the following compositions: 5-methyl-H4PteGlu, 37.2%; H4PteGlu, 32.7%; 10-formyl-H4PteGlu, 22.6%; and 5-formyl-H4PteGlu, 7.7%. Experiments with [3H]PteGlu injection showed that all hepatic folates had the same specific radioactivity as determined by radioassay and L. casei assay, indicating that L. casei exhibited the same growth response to all the folates detected in rat liver.

Animals↗

Hepatic one-carbon metabolism in early folate deficiency in rats.

Glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT) is inhibited by 5-methyltetrahydrofolate polyglutamate in vitro. It is believed to play a regulatory role in the synthesis de novo of methyl groups. We have used the amino-acid-defined diet of Walzem and Clifford [(1988) J. Nutr. 118, 1089-1096] to determine whether folate deficiency in vivo would affect GNMT activity, as predicted by the studies in vitro. Weanling male rats were fed on the folate-deficient diet or a folate-supplemented diet pair-fed to the deficient group. A third group was fed on the folate-supplemented diet ad libitum. Development of folate deficiency rapidly resulted in decreased levels of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) and elevation of S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH). The ratios of SAM to SAH were 1.8, 2.7 and 1.5 in the deficient group for weeks 2, 3 and 4 of the experiment, and the values were 9.7, 7.1 and 8.9 for the pair-fed control group and 10.3, 8.8 and 8.0 for the control group ad libitum fed. The activity of GNMT was significantly higher in the deficient group than in either of the two control groups at each time period. This was not due to increased amounts of GNMT protein, but reflected an increase in specific enzyme activity. Levels of folate in both the cytosol and mitochondria were severely lowered after only 2 weeks on the diet. The distribution of folate coenzymes was also affected by the deficiency, which resulted in a marked increase in the percentage of tetrahydrofolate polyglutamates in both cytosol and mitochondria and a very large decrease in cytosolic 5-methyltetrahydrofolate. The increased GNMT activity is therefore consistent with decreased folate levels and decreased inhibition of enzyme activity.

Animals↗

Characterization of the function of mammalian folylpolyglutamate synthetase (FPGS).

The function and characteristics of mouse folylpolyglutamate synthetase have been examined. Folate polyglutamates were poor substrates for the efflux mechanism for monoglutamates in L1210 mouse leukemia cells, with negligible loss of preformed folate polyglutamates to the medium over four hours. Disruption of folate metabolism with methotrexate did not augment efflux of folate polyglutamates. Folylpolyglutamate synthetase, partially purified from mouse liver, was found to accept a variety of folate derivatives as substrates, including pteroic acid and methotrexate; however, the concentration of these substrates that saturated the reaction varied considerably. The enzyme that catalyzed the addition of glutamic acid to methotrexate and to the naturally-occurring folate monoglutamates appeared to be the same. The cytotoxicity of folylpolyglutamate synthetase inhibitors was predicted to require continued cell division since their effects would be based upon a decreased rate of synthesis of folate cofactors capable of retention by the cell membrane. Hence folylpolyglutamate synthetase inhibitors should have low toxicity to nonproliferative cell populations.

Animals↗

Thermodynamic study of the interaction of methotrexate, its metabolites, and new antifolates with thymidylate synthase: influence of FdUMP.

A microcalorimetric method was used for the direct study of the interaction of methotrexate, its metabolites, and new antifolates N10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolate (CB 3717) and 2-methyl,2-desamino N10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolate (CB 3819), with thymidylate synthase. We show that 7-hydroxymethotrexate and dideazafolates require the prior binding of dUMP or its fluorinated derivative FdUMP to bind to thymidylate synthase, as does methotrexate. Conversely, we show that methotrexate-G2 can interact directly with the enzyme alone. On the other hand, both dUMP and FdUMP exhibited a large cooperative effect on the affinity for thymidylate synthase of the inhibitors, and surprisingly, no significant difference was shown at this level between the natural substrate dUMP and its fluorinated derivative. It was demonstrated that this cooperative effect had an enthalpic origin. In the presence of FdUMP or dUMP, all the studied compounds except 7-hydroxymethotrexate exhibited a large negative enthalpy variation when binding to thymidylate synthase (from -44 to -91 kJ/mol). CB 3717 and methotrexate-G2 are competitors for the same protein binding site. Polyglutamation of methotrexate lead to compounds with higher affinity (association constants were 6.6 x 10(3) M-1 and 2.3 x 10(6) M-1 for methotrexate and methotrexate-G2 respectively) while hydroxylation has an unfavourable effect (association constant of 7-hydroxymethotrexate inferior to 500 M-1). Evidence for the influence of polyglutamation was also provided by the relatively low affinity of dideazofolates for thymidylate synthase (association constant equal to 1.4 and 1.7 x 10(7) M-1 for CB 3717 and CB 3819, respectively), whereas these compounds are known to be strong inhibitors of the enzyme in cells in their polyglutamated forms.

Calorimetry↗

Response of mouse hepatoma cell methylenetetrahydrofolate polyglutamates to folate deprivation.

The behavior of methylenetetrahydrofolate polyglutamate conjugates in cultured mouse hepatoma cells which were starved of folate has been investigated. Folate deprivation caused methylenetetrahydrofolate levels to decrease an order of magnitude. This diminished pool consisted essentially completely of the octaglutamate form. Replenishment of the media with folate caused a slow recovery to normal levels of methylenetetrahydrofolate with undetectable quantities of shorter chain length polyglutamates observable during recovery. Leucovorin, on the other hand, caused a much more rapid recovery to normal levels and gave rise to the early appearance of short chain length polyglutamate intermediates.

Animals↗

Malabsorption of folate polyglutamates in tropical sprue.

Malabsorption of folate polyglutamates prepared from yeast has been shown in eight patients with untreated tropical sprue and in three out of six patients receiving therapy for sprue. The absorptive defect for folate polyglutamates among these 14 patients occurred more frequently and in all but one patient more severely than for folic acid.Folate polyglutamates, the principal dietary form of folate, probably require deconjugation by the jejunal enzyme, folate conjugase, before absorption. The mean concentration of jejunal folate conjugase of 21 patients with untreated sprue and of 13 patients with sprue receiving therapy were both significantly less than the mean concentration in a control group. Nevertheless, all but five of the 34 patients had jejunal folate concentrations within the control range. There was no correlation in the individual patients between the jejunal folate conjugase concentration measured in vitro and the ability to absorb folate polyglutamates-nine patients having normal jejunal folate conjugase levels despite showing malabsorption of folate polyglutamates.

Folic Acid↗

DL-3,3-difluoroglutamate: an enhancer of folylpolyglutamate elongation.

The effect of 3,3-difluoroglutamate (F2Glu) on the reaction catalyzed by rat liver folypolyglutamate synthetase was investigated. F2Glu was a potent, concentration-dependent inhibitor of poly(gamma-glutamylation) using [3H]Glu and either methotrexate (4-NH2-10-CH3PteGlu) or tetrahydrofolate as substrates. It was determined that F2Glu acted as an alternate substrate, but in contrast to the previously characterized alternate substrate 4-fluoroglutamate (McGuire, J.J., and Coward, J.K. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 6747-6754), it did not terminate polyglutamate chain elongation. Instead, F2Glu promoted chain elongation. Thus, synthesis of products from [3H]methotrexate containing 1 and 2 additional amino acid residues occurred at a substantially higher rate in the presence of F2Glu when compared to identical reactions in the presence of Glu; this was more pronounced for the product containing 2 additional residues. Identities of the products were established by their respective chromatographic elution positions and by limit digestion with gamma-glutamyl hydrolases. Ligation of Glu to 4-NH2-10-CH3PteGlu-gamma-(3,3-difluoroglutamate) was also enhanced. These results are consistent with F2Glu enhancing the synthesis of poly(gamma-glutamate) metabolites at the level of either the incoming amino acid (glutamate analog) or the gamma-glutamyl acceptor species. F2Glu is thus the first glutamate analog which enhances chain elongation catalyzed by folypolyglutamate synthetase.

Animals↗

Intestinal folate conjugase activity and folate absorption in the ethanol-fed pregnant rat.

The effect of chronic alcohol consumption on intestinal folate conjugase activity and on the absorption of both mono- and polyglutamyl folates was evaluated in pregnant rats. Female rats were given either 20% ethanol in drinking water and rat chow ad libitum (alcohol group) or were fed rat chow and water ad libitum (controls). After four weeks on this regimen all animals were bred and the alcohol group was changed to 30% ethanol in water. Conjugase activity, in vivo folate absorption, and fetal and placental weights were measured on day 20 of gestation. The controls consumed more food than the alcohol group, which was reflected in significantly higher body weights of the control group. Fetal weights of the alcohol group were significantly lower than those of the controls, but litter size and placental weights were not significantly different. No significant differences were found in intestinal conjugase activity between the two groups of animals, but the intestinal absorption of both folate mono- and pentaglutamate were significantly higher in the alcohol than in the control group. The absorption of folate pentaglutamate was higher than that of folate monoglutamate in both groups of animals but the differences were not significant. These findings indicate that ethanol ingestion during pregnancy does not seem to interfere with either folate polyglutamate hydrolysis or folate absorption.

Animals↗

Methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis. An update.

Methotrexate has been approved for the treatment of refractory rheumatoid arthritis by several regulatory agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration. The tendency is now to prescribe it at earlier stages of the disease. Methotrexate is a well known antifolate. Its exact mechanism of action in rheumatoid arthritis remains uncertain. The polyglutamated derivatives of methotrexate are potent inhibitors of various enzymes, including dihydrofolate reductase and 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide transformylase. Inhibitory effects on cytokines, particularly interleukin-1, and on arachidonic acid metabolism, as well as effects on proteolytic enzymes, have been reported. Some of them may be linked to the antifolate properties of methotrexate. Overall, the drug appears to act in rheumatoid arthritis as an anti-inflammatory agent with subtle immunomodulating properties. Direct inhibitory effects on rapidly proliferating cells in the synovium have also been suggested. Methotrexate is usually given orally. Marked interindividual variation in its bioavailability has been found. Food intake has no significant effect on the pharmacokinetics of oral methotrexate. Methotrexate undergoes significant metabolism. The functionally important metabolites are the polyglutamated derivatives of methotrexate, which are selectively retained in the cells. Less than 10% of a dose of methotrexate is oxidised to 7-hydroxy-methotrexate, irrespective of the route of administration. This metabolite is extensively (91 to 93%) bound to plasma proteins, in contrast to the parent drug (35 to 50% bound). Methotrexate is mainly excreted by the kidneys. It undergoes tubular secretion and may thereby compete with various organic acid compounds. Early placebo-controlled trials demonstrated that weekly low dosage methotrexate produced early symptomatic improvement in most rheumatoid arthritis patients. Two meta-analyses showed that methotrexate is among the most efficacious of slow-acting antirheumatic agents, together with parenteral gold (sodium aurothiomalate), penicillamine and sulfasalazine. Furthermore, in the short term context of clinical trials, methotrexate has one of the best efficacy/toxicity ratios. There is little evidence that methotrexate, or any available slow-acting antirheumatic agent, is a true disease-modifying drug. However, the probability that a patient will continue methotrexate therapy over time appears quite favourable compared with any other slow-acting antirheumatic drug. Combination therapy with slow-acting drugs has been advised for the management of rheumatoid arthritis, but the evidence currently available does not support general use of combination therapy including methotrexate. Almost all investigations indicated that toxic effects, rather than lack of response, were the major reason for discontinuing methotrexate therapy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

Folic acid metabolism and mechanisms of neural tube defects.

Folate acts as a cofactor for enzymes involved in DNA and RNA biosynthesis. Folate is also involved in the supply of methyl groups to the so-called methylation cycle, which uses methionine and makes homocysteine. The folate cofactor, N5-methyltetrahydrofolate, donates its methyl group to a vitamin B12-dependent enzyme, methionine synthase, which recycles homocysteine back to methionine. The cell's ability to methylate important compounds such as proteins, lipids and myelin will be compromised by deficiency of folate or vitamin B12, resulting in impaired cellular function. Methionine synthase plays another role: it converts circulating N5-methyltetrahydrofolate into tetrahydrofolate. The latter but not the former can act as a substrate for polyglutamate synthase, thereby becoming retained in the cell as polyglutamate. Interruption of DNA biosynthesis or methylation reactions could prevent the proper closure of the neural tube. Such inhibition could be caused by simple deficiency of either folic acid or vitamin B12. Studies comparing serum folate and vitamin B12 status in women who have had an affected pregnancy to those in control women indicate no difference between the two groups and show that most cases are not clinically deficient in either vitamin. A small number of studies using the level of folate in red blood cells, which is a better reflection of tissue stores, confirm this, suggesting instead a metabolic impairment in the biochemical functions of one of these vitamins. The trials using folic acid to prevent neural tube defects thus seem to be effectively overcoming a metabolic block rather than treating folate deficiency.

Female↗

Folate-binding triggers the activation of folylpolyglutamate synthetase.

Folic acid is an essential vitamin for normal cell growth, primarily through its central role in one-carbon metabolism. Folate analogs (antifolates) are targeted at the same reactions and are widely used as therapeutic drugs for cancer and bacterial infections. Effective retention of folates in cells and the efficacy of antifolate drugs both depend upon the addition of a polyglutamate tail to the folate or antifolate molecule by the enzyme folylpolyglutamate synthetase (FPGS). The reaction mechanism involves the ATP-dependent activation of the free carboxylate group on the folate molecule to give an acyl phosphate intermediate, followed by attack by the incoming L-glutamate substrate. FPGS shares a number of structural and mechanistic details with the bacterial cell wall ligases MurD, MurE and MurF, and these enzymes, along with FPGS, form a subfamily of the ADP-forming amide bond ligase family. High-resolution crystallographic analyses of binary and ternary complexes of Lactobacillus casei FPGS reveal that binding of the first substrate (ATP) is not sufficient to generate an active enzyme. However, binding of folate as the second substrate triggers a large conformational change that activates FPGS and allows the enzyme to adopt a form that is then able to bind the third substrate, L-glutamate, and effect the addition of a polyglutamate tail to the folate.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Intestinal absorption of vitamins.

This article provides an overview of advances in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms and regulation of intestinal absorption processes of vitamins. The vitamins covered are the water-soluble vitamins folic acid, cobalamin (vitamin B12), biotin, pantothenic acid, and thiamine (vitamin B1) and the lipid-soluble vitamin A. For folate, significant advances have been made in regard to i) digestion of dietary folate polyglutamates to folate monoglutamates by the cloning of the responsible enzyme; ii) identification of the cDNA responsible for the intestinal folate transporter; iii) delineation of intracellular mechanisms that regulate small intestinal folate uptake; and iv) identification and characterization of a specific, pH-dependent, carrier-mediated system for folate uptake at the luminal (apical) membrane of human colonocytes. Studies on cobalamine have focused on cellular and molecular characterization of the intrinsic factor and its receptor. Studies on biotin transport in the small intestine have shown that the uptake process is shared by another water-soluble vitamin, pantothenic acid. Furthermore, a Na-dependent, carrier-mediated biotin uptake system that is also shared with pantothenic acid has been identified at the apical membrane of human colonocytes. This carrier is believed to be responsible for the absorption of the bacterially synthesized biotin and pantothenic acid in the large intestine. Also, preliminary studies have reported the cloning of a biotin transporter from the small intestine. As for thiamine intestinal transport, a study has shown thiamine uptake by small intestinal biopsy specimens to be via a carrier-mediated, Na-independent mechanism, which appears to be up-regulated in thiamine deficiency. Studies on vitamin A intestinal absorption have shown the existence of a receptor-mediated mechanism for the uptake of retinol bound to retinol-binding protein in the small intestine of suckling rats. Another study has shown that retinoic acid increases the mRNA level of the cellular retinol binding protein II and the rate of retinol uptake by Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells. The study suggested that retinoids may play a role in the regulation of vitamin A intestinal absorption.

Journal Article↗

Folic acid compounds in romaine lettuce.

The composition of folate coenzymes in romaine lettuce was studied. Lettuce extract was purified on QAE-Sephadex A-25 and folate compounds were separated into a monoglutamate fraction and a polyglutamate fraction by chromatography on Sephadex G-15. Both the mono- and poly-glutamate fractions were resolved on DEAE-cellulose. Positive identification of DEAE peaks was made by further cochromatography with high specific activity radioactive marker folate compounds and with differential microbiological assay. The distribution of folate compounds in lettuce is as follows: 32% 5-CH3-H4PteGlu; 1% 5-CHO-H4PteGlu; 3% 5-CHO-H4PteGlu4; 9% 5-CH3-H4PteGlu4; 13% 5-CHO-H4PteGlu5; and 31% 5-CH3-H4PteGlu5.

Biological Assay↗

Thymidylate synthase: a target for anticancer drug design.

N10-Propargyl-5,8-dideazafolic acid (CB3717) has proved to be an interesting recent addition to the spectrum of antifolate drugs. Its sole biochemical locus of action appears to be thymidylate synthase, an inhibitory effect which is potentiated by intracellular polyglutamation. The drug has shown a spectrum of clinical activity and toxicity which is unusual for an antimetabolite. It seems likely that the former is attributable to its inhibition of TS, whilst the latter relates to the drug's poor aqueous solubility at physiological pH. Seminal to the discovery of a new generation of more selective thymidylate synthase inhibitors has been the observation that the C2 desamino derivative (CB3804) retains the useful TS-inhibitory and cytotoxic properties of CB3717. It is some two orders of magnitude more water soluble than CB3717 at physiological pH and appears not to produce, in the mouse, the liver and kidney toxicities which have restricted the wider use of CB3717. Thus, in desamino CB3717, it has proved possible to separate the structural features determining antitumor activity from those which are responsible for its systemic toxicities. These encouraging results prompted systematic structure-activity studies of other C2-modified quinazolines, which revealed that the desirable properties of the desamino compound are not unique. Results with two other CB3717 analogues, the C2-methyl (CB3819) and C2-methoxy (CB3828), have been discussed in the present paper. All three CB3717 analogues exhibit TS-inhibitory activities which are broadly comparable to those of the parent drug. In continuous culture CB3828 is as cytotoxic as CB3717, while CB3804 and CB3819 are at least an order of magnitude more potent. As with the desamino derivative (CB3804), so CB3819 is substantially more water soluble than CB3717 and is apparently devoid of its major toxicities. However, the effects of CB3828 on whole cell TS inhibition, both in vitro and in vivo, are rapidly reversible upon removal of exogenous compound, while the inhibition is sustained in similar experiments with the other three compounds. It is likely that these effects relate to the extent to which the various derivatives are converted to polyglutamate species and retained intracellularly. With the exception of CB3828, all are good substrates for FPGS, and the polyglutamate derivatives of CB3717, CB3804 and CB3819 are better TS inhibitors than the corresponding monoglutamates. CB3804 and CB3819 are less toxic and are cleared from the plasma much more rapidly than CB3717, so that the rate and extent of their polyglutamation may be an essential prerequisite of pharmacological activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗