Development of liver microsomal oxidations in the chick.

1. Liver microsomal preparations from chick embryos (1 day before hatching) and from 1-7 day old chicks were assayed for oxidative drug-metabolizing activity with aminopyrine, aniline and naphthalene as substrates. 2. Activities for all three substrates were highest in preparations from 1 day-old chicks. These were more than twice as active as the 7 day-old preparations and about three times as active as those from the embryos. 3. The increase in drug-metabolizing activities in newly-hatched chicks was the same for either sex and persisted for 3 days before declining towards the 7 day-old levels. 4. The developmental time-course fo the liver microsomal drug-metabolizing activities was independent of any factor in the 105 000 g supernatant fractions and of such microsomal parameters as cytochrome b5 and cytochrome P-450 content, and NADPH-cytochrome c reductase activity, but was related to changes in NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase levels. 5. Treatment of 7 day-old chicks with exogenous inducers, 3-methylcholanthrene or phenobarbital sodium (100 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) brought about maximal stimulation of microsomal activity as 18-24 h. The time-course of this induction was reflected by changes in microsomal cytochrome P-450 content and NADPH-cytochrome P=450 reductase activities. 6. Some induction of liver microsomal drug metabolism in 7 day-old chicks could also be brought about by injecting certain lipid-soluble egg yolk extracts.     

Influence of drugs and chemical upon hepatic enzymes and proteins-I. Structure-activity relationship between various barbiturates and microsomal enzyme induction in rat liver.

The effect of phenobarbital, three N-phenylbarbiturates and three N-cyclohexylbarbiturates on microsomal protein content, cytochrome P-450, cytochrome b₅, aniline hydroxylase, aminopyrine demethylase, p-nitrophenol-glucuronyltransferase and the ultrastructure of hepatic cells in rat liver were studied to elucidate the influence of barbiturate structure on enzyme-inducing activity. Smooth endoplasmic reticulum increased after administration of phenobarbital, phetharbital or bucolome. Phenobarbital and phetharbital, especially phenobarbital, induced cytochrome P-450 and glucuronyl-transferase. On the other hand, the other barbiturates showed little enzyme-inducing activity. From these results, the type and spatial position of barbiturate substituents are considered important for hepatic microsomal enzyme induction. Aniline hydroxylase and aminopyrine demethylase activities changed coincidentally with cytochrome P-450 content in almost all rat livers. However, quantitative agreement of the changes in cytochrome P-450 content and drug-metabolizing activity could not be obtained, suggesting the possibility of substrate inhibition or of intrinsic inhibitors in the microsomal fraction. Bucolome, one of the N-cyclohexylbarbiturates, has been reported to be effective in the reduction of serum unconjugated bilirubin level in Gilbert's syndrome. However, in. spite of the increased smooth endoplasmic reticulum, there was a reduction in the microsomal protein content, cytochrome P-450 and glucuronyltransferase after bucolome administration. This would seem to indicate that the serum bilirubin-reducing mechanism of bucolome is different from that of phenobarbital and phetharbital.     

Effects of diispropyl 1, 3-dithiol-2-ylidene malonate (NKK-105) on the drug-metabolizing enzymes and fine structure of rat liver (author's transl)]

The mechanism of liver enlargement and anti-fatty liver effect of NKK-105 in the rat were investigated by the mesurement of drug-metabolizing enzyme activities and morphological changes in liver tissue detected using electron microscopy. A single administration of NKK-105(250, 500, 1000 mg/kg, p.o.) induced an apparent increase in liver weight. The elevation of aminopyrine demethylase activity and slight increase in microsomal cytochrome b5 and cytochrome P-450 content were seen with the administration of NKK-105. NKK-105 inhibited lipid peroxide formation in mitochondrial and microsomal fractions. Total lipid content of liver decreased at 12 hr after the administration of NKK-105. Lipid peroxide formation in mitochondrial and microsomal fractions was markedly inhibited by the addition of NKK-105 (1 X 10(-3)M), in vitro. Disarrangement of rough endoplasmic reticulum and increase in smooth endoplasmic reticulum were observed by the administration of NKK-105. The decrease in drug-metabolizing enzymes caused by CCl4 or ethionine was protected in the combination with NKK-105. NKK-105 markedly inhibited the elevation of lipid peroxide formation caused by CCl4 or ethionine. Similar effects on lipid peroxide formation were also obtained in vitro. These results suggest that the enlargement induced by NKK-105 indicates a functional not a toxic response. The inhibition of lipid peroxide formation in mitochondrial and microsomal fractions may thus play an important role in the mechanism of anti-fatty liver effect of NKK-105 on the CCl4 or ethionine-induced fatty liver.     

The effect of age on inducibility of various types of rat liver cytochrome P-450.

1. The content and specific activities of inducible cytochrome P-450 enzymes were determined in liver microsomes of rats of various ages after maximal induction with phenobarbital, isosafrole of 3-methylcholanthrene, and in untreated animals. 2. With age an increase in liver weight was observed both in untreated rats and in maximally induced ones; the microsomal protein content/g of liver decreased with age in untreated animals but not in induced ones. Total cytochrome P-450 content/mg microsomal protein remained unchanged with age in all experimental groups. 3. Immunologically detectable levels of cytochrome P4501A1/1A2 and 2B1/2B2 remain unchanged with age both in untreated animals and in maximally induced ones. 4. Several cytochrome P-450 activities showed an age-related decrease in untreated animals, but no change with age was observed in the activities of cytochrome P4501A1, 2A2 and 2B1/2B2 in rat liver microsomes. This indicates that ageing affects only the activity of some constitutive forms of cytochrome P-450 in male rats, but not the activity of inducible types of P-450. 5. Although previous results indicated decreased inducibility of the cytochrome P-450 mRNA levels with age, the present study clearly demonstrates that this is not reflected in decreased enzyme levels or activities after maximal induction. From this it is concluded that the decreased mRNA levels might rather be reflected in a decreased rate at which maximal induction can be achieved.     

Inflammation, an inducer of metallothionein, inhibits carbon-tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in rats.

Inflammation, induced by turpentine (0.1 ml i.m.), protected against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatotoxicity based on serum activities of sorbitol dehydrogenase. Inflammation was confirmed by elevated serum ceruloplasmin activities, and was associated with high hepatic levels of metallothionein, a zinc protein proposed to protect against CCl4-induced injury. Inflammation suppressed cytochrome P-450 activities, but this was not associated with protection against CCl4-promoted liver microsomal injury as assessed by glucose-6-phosphatase activity loss. Thus, protection against plasma membrane injury did not result primarily from depressed microsomal activation of CCl4. Each effect of inflammation reported here resembled effects of zinc injections. This similarity strengthens the hypothesis that metallothionein protects against CCl4-induced hepatic plasma membrane injury.     

Effects of 8-(2-dimethylaminoethyl)-3-oxo-4-phenyl-1-thia-4,8-diazaspiro [4,5] decane dihydrochloride monohydrate (Y-8845) on carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury

The effects of 8-(2-dimethylaminoethyl)-3-oxo-4-phenyl-1-thia-4,8-diazaspiro [4, 5] decane dihydrochloride monohydrate (Y-8845) on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver injury were investigated in rats. CCl4-induced attenuation of the plasma cyclic AMP (cAMP) response to glucagon stimulation was significantly prevented by pretreatment with Y-8845. Y-8845 also effectively suppressed the increases in the activities of serum transaminases as well as the decreases in microsomal glucose-6-phosphatase activity and microsomal cytochrome P-450 concentrations induced by CCl4. In rats at 72 hr after CCl4 administration, the plasma cAMP response to glucagon, microsomal glucose-6-phosphatase activity and P-450 concentration were all below the control level. Y-8845 treatment after CCl4 administration rectified these reductions to nearly normal levels. Furthermore, Y-8845 stimulated DNA synthesis during liver regeneration after CCl4 intoxication. These results demonstrate that Y-8845 has a protective effect against CCl4-induced injury in the liver and a stimulating effect on the recovery of the damaged liver.     

Effects of motorcycle exhaust inhalation exposure on cytochrome P-450 2B1, antioxidant enzymes, and lipid peroxidation in rat liver and lung

The effects of motorcycle exhaust (ME) on metabolic and antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxidation were determined using male rats exposed to 1:10 diluted ME by inhalation 2 h daily for 4 wk. For microsomal cytochrome P-450 enzymes, ME resulted in threefold increases of 7-ethoxyresorufin and pentoxyresorufin O-deethylase activities in liver and a sixfold increase of 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase activity and an 80% decrease of pentoxyresorufin O-dealkylase activity in lung. The results of immunoblot analysis of microsomal proteins revealed that ME increased liver and lung cytochrome P-450 1A1 with minimal effects on cytochrome P-450 2E1. ME increased cytochrome P-450 2B1/2 proteins in liver but decreased cytochrome P-450 2B1 in lung. ME did not change microsomal cytochrome P-450 enzyme activity or protein level in kidney. For phase II enzymes, ME resulted in 53% and twofold increases of cytosolic NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase activities in liver and lung, respectively, and no effect on microsomal UDP-glucuronosyltransferase activities. For antioxidant enzymes, ME produced 23% and 35% decreases of superoxide dismutase, 9% and 27% decreases of catalase, and no changes of glutathione peroxidase activities in liver and lung cytosols, respectively. For lipid peroxidation, the results of thiobarbituric acid assay showed that ME resulted in a twofold increase of formation of malondialdehyde by liver microsomes incubated with FeCl(3) -ADP. ME produced a threefold increase of malondialdehyde formation by lung microsomes. The present study demonstrates that ME inhalation exposure differentially modulates cytochrome P-450 2B1 and antioxidant enzymes and increases susceptibility to lipid peroxidation in rat liver and lung.     

Comparison of effects of xenobiotics on extrahepatic and hepatic microsomal drug-metabolizing enzymes in mice

The content of microsomal protein is the same in both kidneys and small intestine, corresponding to 57% of the control value expressed as 100% in the untreated liver. The contents of P450 and cytochrome b(5), and the activity of NADPH-cytochrome c reductase in the kidney were higher than those in the small intestine, which were 17%, 22% and 41% of controls, respectively, in the former and 5%, 11% and 22% of controls in the latter. As compared with similar measurements made in the liver, the activities of substrate-metabolizing enzymes in these extrahepatic organs were very low. The activities of renal aniline hydroxylase, aminopyrine N-demethylase, 7-ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase, 7-methoxycoumarin O-demethylase and benzo(a)pyrene hydroxylase were 6%, 5%, 3%, 0.6% and 0.2% of controls, respectively. The activities of these enzymes in the small intestine were lower than those in the kidney or below the limits of detection. These results suggested that isoforms or their contents of P450 responsible for these substrate biotransformations are different among liver, kidneys and small intestine. Meantime, this study showed similar significant inductions by phenobarbital and rifampin of small intestinal and hepatic microsomal drug-metabolizing enzymes. In contrast, neither phenobarbital nor rifampin was capable of increasing renal microsomal enzymes, with the exception of benzo(a)pyrene hydroxylase which was induced by rifampin. These findings indicated that both liver and small intestine, but not kidneys contain the same phenobarbital- and rifampin-inducible P450 isoforms, cytochrome b(5) and NADPH-cytochrome c reductase. In addition, CCl(4) could be bioactivated by CYP2E1 to free radicals in the kidney which caused destruction of microsomal enzymes. In mice pretreated with phenobarbital, CCl(4) also attenuated the increase in content of P450 in the small intestine, which appeared to be a result of induction by phenobarbital of CYP2E1.     

CCl4-induced lipoperoxidation triggers a lethal defect in the liver plasma membranes

Loss of calcium regulation across the plasma membrane of hepatocytes is responsible for irreversible cell damage by CCl4. The mode of action of colchicine in CCl4 acute liver damage is not completely understood. We followed the time courses of the changes in lipoperoxidation, the activities of liver plasma membrane Ca2(+)-ATPase, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and alkaline phosphatase, as well as the time courses of serum markers of liver damage in rats acutely intoxicated with CCl4. We assessed the effects of colchicine in this model and evaluated the effect of this drug on liver cytochrome P-450. Increased lipoperoxidation is the earliest and shortest lasting effect of CCl4 in the liver and is followed by a decrease in the activities of plasma membrane-bound enzymes. The alterations in serum enzymes showed a slower onset and were more protracted. Colchicine pretreatment produced a small decrease in cytochrome P-450 in the liver but completely prevented most of the changes produced by CCl4 in lipoperoxidation, liver plasma membrane enzyme activities and serum enzyme activities. We conclude that CCl4 metabolites trigger lipoperoxidation and then produce a longer lasting change in the plasma membrane, which thus allows calcium accumulation. Colchicine prevents the early mechanisms of CCl4 damage, and its effect on cytochrome P-450 perhaps plays only a contributory role.     

Characterization of the cytochrome P-450 monooxygenase system of hamster liver microsomes. Effects of prior treatment with ethanol and other xenobiotics

The cytochrome P-450 monooxygenase system of hamster liver microsomes and its response to prior treatment with ethanol and other xenobiotics have been examined. Male Syrian golden hamsters were administered ethanol (ETOH), phenobarbital (PB), 5,6-benzoflavone (BF) or isoniazid (INH). Each treatment resulted in a moderate increase (20-60%) in the specific content of liver microsomal cytochrome P-450 along with a unique hemeprotein ferrous carbonyl Soret maximum. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic analysis of liver microsomes revealed distinctive changes in protein banding patterns in the cytochrome P-450 (45-60 kDa) region with each treatment. NADPH: cytochrome c reductase activity was increased by both PB and INH, whereas cytochrome b5 content was increased by INH only. Microsomal oxidation of ETOH and aniline p-hydroxylation (expressed per nmol cytochrome P-450) were enhanced dramatically by ETOH and INH, whereas PB and BF had no effect on these enzymatic activities. Both ETOH and INH also increased zoxazolamine 6-hydroxylation but, in contrast to other rodent species, this drug-metabolizing activity was decreased in hamster liver microsomes after treatment with either PB or BF. Microsomal benzphetamine N-demethylation was decreased by ETOH, INH and BF administration and was only modestly enhanced after treatment with PB. ETOH and INH had no effect on the O-deethylation of 7-ethoxycoumarin, and enzymatic activity increased by BF but decreased by PB. These results demonstrate that the cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenase system of hamster liver microsomes responds to treatment with ETOH and other xenobiotics in a manner that is quantitatively and, in certain respects, qualitatively different from that reported for the rat, rabbit, and mouse.     

Toxicologic studies of N-trichloromethylthio-4-cyclohexene-1,2-dicarboximide (captan): its metabolism by rat liver drug-metabolizing enzyme system

The degree of toxicity caused in rats by captan (N-trichloromethylthio-4-cyclohexene-1,2-dicarboximide) administered intraperitoneally is greater than that induced by orally administered captan. With regard to its effect on the drug-metabolizing enzymes of rat liver, the activity of aniline hydroxylase and the level of cytochrome P-450 were found to decrease in the treated rats 24 h after a single oral dose (650 mg/kg). The loss was even greater in the animals receiving diethyl maleate 1 h prior to captan. Furthermore, usual increase in the activity of drug biotransformation enzymes seen after phenobarbital treatment appears to decrease in rats dosed with this funaicide. In vitro incubations of rat liver microsomes with captan resulted in a profound loss of cytochrome P-450 and the acitivty of benzphetamine N-demethylase as well as aniline hydroxylase. Although the inhibition of drug-metabolizing enzyme activity by captan was observed in microsomal incubations with or without NADPH, a detectable amount of carbonyl sulfide (COS) was found only in the incubations that contained captan plus NADPH. Carbonyl sulfide appears to arise from a captan-derived metabolite, thiophosgene (CSCl2), which decomposes to COS in aqueous solutions and in the presence of NADPH inhibits the activity of drug biotransformation enzymes.     

Effect of microsomal preparations and induction on cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenases in fetal and neonatal rat liver.

A study of the sedimentation behavior of fetal and neonatal rat liver microsomes allowed a better recovery of a less contaminated microsomal fraction, especially by the use of an EDTA-containing buffer. The specific cytochrome P-450 content and related catalytic activities in the 105,000 g pellet of fetal and neonatal liver were thus much higher than usually reported, while molecular activities were comparable to adult ones.The transplacental inducing effects of phenobarbital and 3-methylcholanthrene on the monooxygenase system were studied in microsomes prepared by the modified procedure and compared to results obtained in crude liver homogenate: 3-methylcholanthrene induces a net biosynthesis of cytochrome P-450 in fetal liver, whereas phenobarbital produces only a premature transformation of rough into smooth endoplasmic reticulum, which decreases the ‘contamination’ of the 105,000 g pellet by ribosomal protein. As a result, the specific cytochrome P-450 content of the microsomal fraction appears to be increased by phenobarbital, though there is no true induction of the monooxygenase system in near-term rat fetus.     

Effects of gomisin A on liver functions in hepatotoxic chemicals-treated rats

The effects of gomisin A, which is a lignan component of schizandra fruits, on liver functions in various experimental liver injuries and on bile secretion in CCl4-induced liver injury were studied. Gomisin A weakly accelerated the disappearance of plasma ICG by itself at a high dose (100 mg/kg, i.p.). All of the hepatotoxic chemicals used in this study inhibited the excretion of ICG from plasma. Gomisin A showed a tendency to prevent the delays of the disappearance of plasma ICG induced by CCl4, d-galactosamine and orotic acid, but not that by ANIT. Bile flow and biliary outputs of total bile acids and electrolytes (Na+, K+, Cl- and HCO3-) were decreased in CCl4-treated rats. Gomisin A maintained bile flow and biliary output of each electrolyte nearly to the level of the vehicle-treated group, but did not affect biliary output of total bile acids. These findings suggest that gomisin A possesses a liver function-facilitating property in normal and liver injured rats and that its preventive action on CCl4-induced cholestasis is due to maintaining the function of the bile acids-independent fraction.     

Isopropanol enhancement of cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenase activities and its effects on carbon tetrachloride intoxication

Acute or chronic treatment of rats with isopropanol caused a significant increase in hepatic cytochrome P-450 content and a two- to threefold increase in aniline hydroxylase and 7-ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase activities, but no significant change in ethylmorphine N-demethylase or benzo(a)pyrene hydroxylase activity. In rats treated with isopropanol and challenged with CCl4, liver toxicity of CCl4 was characteristically potentiated, as assessed by elevation of serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) levels. Isopropanol pretreatment also potentiated CCl4-induced damage to the hepatic monooxygenase system. In addition to a decrease in cytochrome P-450, rats treated with isopropanol and challenged with CCl4 showed a nonspecific decrease not only in aniline hydroxylase and 7-ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase activities, but also in ethylmorphine N-demethylase, benzo(a)pyrene hydroxylase, and NADPH-cytochrome c reductase activities. These results were confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of solubilized microsomes. The electrophoretic results showed that isopropanol pretreatment markedly potentiated the CCl4-caused destruction of cytochrome P-450 hemeproteins. The data strongly suggest that isopropanol increases one or more forms of cytochrome P-450 which selectively enhance the metabolism of CCl4 to an active metabolite. This active metabolite then causes a nonselective damage to the microsomal mixed-function oxidase system.     

Differences in the duration of the enhancement of liver mixed-function oxidase activities in ethanol-fed rats after withdrawal

Liver microsomal mixed-function oxidase activities were determined in female Sprague-Dawley rats after 3 weeks of ethanol feeding and for up to 10 days after withdrawal. Ethanol (36% of total calories) was administered in a high fat liquid diet and was replaced isocalorically by carbohydrates in controls. Chronic ethanol feeding similarly enhanced both microsomal cytochrome P-450 content and benzphetamine N-demethylase activity, per mg of protein, and resulted in a disproportionate increase in both aniline hydroxylase and 7-ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase activities. A 6- to 7-day withdrawal period was apparently necessary for the overall disappearance of these effects of ethanol. Marked differences, however, were seen in the time courses of return of these variables to control levels, as also indicated by changes, during this period and specially during the first 24 hr after withdrawal, in the apparent molar activity of the microsomal fraction with the three substrates tested. The results were interpreted as indicating that the distinct ethanol-inducible cytochrome P-450 isozyme, with a high specific activity toward aniline, undergoes a very rapid turnover in liver microsomes. Induction of another form of cytochrome P-450, differing from the former by its slower turnover rate, would explain the induction by ethanol of 7-ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase activity. The withdrawal of ethanol was followed by a rapid but transient increase in benzphetamine N-demethylase activity above the ethanol-induced level, at a time when other activities were rapidly declining. This could suggest that the microsomal content of other cytochrome P-450 isozyme(s), with high specific activity toward this substrate, would also be temporarily altered during ethanol withdrawal. Important alterations in microsomal cytochrome P-450-dependent mixed-function oxidase activities occurred during the initial 24-hr period of withdrawal, even in the absence of a change in microsomal cytochrome P-450 content, indicating that the effects of chronic ethanol ingestion on hepatic drug-metabolizing enzyme activities may also be highly dependent on the proximity of ethanol intake.     

In vivo administration of hydroxylated phenobarbital metabolites: effect on rat hepatic cytochromes P-450, epoxide hydrolase and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase

p-Hydroxyphenobarbital and m-hydroxyphenobarbital injected intraperitoneally to rats at the dose of 80 mg/kg induced a small increase of cytochrome P-450 in crude liver homogenate (expressed as nmoles/g liver) but a decrease of cytochrome P-450 concentration in isolated microsomes (expressed as nmoles/mg microsomal protein). A similar decrease of NADPH-cyt c reductase and epoxide hydrolase specific activities was observed. Pretreatment of animals with phenobarbital metabolites did not alter the native UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, but depressed the specific activity of digitonin-treated UDP-glucuronosyltransferase towards p-nitrophenol. Gel electrophoresis of microsomes showed that p-hydroxyphenobarbital and m-hydroxyphenobarbital did not induce a net biosynthesis of proteins with molecular weight near 50,000. Qualitative examination of monooxygenase activities indicated that the administration of hydroxylated phenobarbital did not modify the catalytic characteristics of microsomes, as compared with those of control microsomes. When phenobarbital and its p-hydroxyderivative were simultaneously injected to rats, specific enzyme activities of microsomes were increased as compared with controls but remained lower than with phenobarbital alone. The qualitative characteristics of the monooxygenase system were similar to those of microsomes from phenobarbital-induced rats. It may be concluded that phenobarbital produces both a proliferation of endoplasmic reticulum and an induction of drug-metabolizing activities, whereas its hydroxylated metabolites only retain the prolifer-ative activity: thus, these two effects of phenobarbital might depend on two different molecular mechanisms.     

Effects of pregnancy on the metabolism of drugs in the rat and rabbit

In rats 19–20 days pregnant, liver weight is increased by 40 per cent, cytochrome P-450 concentration is decreased by 25 per cent and the specific activities of 4-methylumbelliferone glucuronyl transferase and biphenyl-4-hydroxylase are reduced by 25 and 30 per cent, respectively; biphenyl-2-hydroxylase and p-nitrobenzoic acid reductase are not changed. In rats, 15–16 days pregnant, liver weight is increased by 33 per cent but the concentration of cytochrome P-450 and the specific activities of the drug microsomal enzymes are unchanged. Expressed as total amounts per whole liver, there is an increase in microsomal protein and nitro-reductase in both 15–16 and 19–20 day pregnant animals but no changes occur in cytochrome P-450, glucuronyl transferase or biphenyl hydroxylases.Hexobarbital administered to rats at doses related to pregnant body weight increases the sleeping-time from 50 min in non-pregnant animals to 110 min at full-term, but when administered on the basis of the non-pregnant body weight the duration of anaesthesia remains unchanged.Pretreatment of pregnant (19–20 days) and non-pregnant rats with phenobarbital leads to similar increases in microsomal protein (25 per cent) and nitroreductase activity (40 per cent); cytochrome P-450 is increased in non-pregnant animals (30 per cent) but not in the pregnant, although biphenyl-4-hydroxylase is increased in both to such extents as to annul the inhibitory effect of pregnancy. Pretreatment with methylcholanthrene gives rise to similar increases in cytochrome P-450 (30 per cent) and biphenyl-2-hydroxylase (10-fold increase) in both pregnant and non-pregnant rats and again increases biphenyl-4-hydroxylase so as to annul the effect of pregnancy.With rabbits, no change occurs in liver weight, microsomal protein, nitro-reductase, cytochrome P-450, or biphenyl-4-hydroxylase at full-term pregnancy, but glucuronyl transferase is reduced by 20 per cent, and coumarin-7-hydroxylase by 60 per cent. Pretreatment of rabbits with phenobarbital increases microsomal protein (15, 25 per cent), nitro-reductase (70, 80 per cent), cytochrome P-450 (130, 90 per cent), biphenyl-4- hydroxylase (50, 60 per cent), coumarin-7-hydroxylase (40, 150 per cent), and glucuronyl transferase (65, 15 per cent) in both non-pregnant and pregnant animals, respectively.The decrease during pregnancy of hepatic glucuronyl transferase is attributed to competitive inhibition by high levels of endogenous estrogenic and progestational steroids, but the decrease in the activities of the microsomal hydroxylating enzymes is attributed to the decrease in P-450, which may result from high levels of growth factors.     

Effects of roxithromycin, a new semisynthetic macrolide, and two erythromycins on drug metabolizing enzymes in rat liver

The effects of a new semisynthetic macrolide, roxithromycin, on drug metabolizing enzymes of rat liver were compared with two erythromycins, the base (EB) and the estolate (EE), after 7 days' treatment with high oral doses (400 and 800 mg/kg daily). Dose-related higher concentrations of roxithromycin were reached in serum and liver than after EB or EE. The two reference erythromycins induced the synthesis of microsomal enzymes and formed inactive cytochrome P-450-metabolite complexes. N-Demethylation of erythromycin itself and aminopyrine was increased by the treatment. Liver microsomal enzyme activities were not induced and the inactive cytochrome P-450-metabolite complex was not formed after 400 mg/kg of roxithromycin and only to a very limited extent after 800 mg/kg (10% vs. 50% after EE). At the higher dose microsomal activities were not changed by roxithromycin and only aminopyrine N-demethylation was reduced.     

Imipramine prevention of carbon tetrachloride-induced liver necrosis at late states of the intoxication process

Imipramine administration (50 mg kg-1, i.p.) to Sprague-Dawley male rats (240-290 g) 6 or 10 h after CCl4 (1 ml kg-1, i.p.) partially prevents liver necrosis induced by the hepatotoxin. When imipramine is given 30 min before CCl4, it inhibits in part the CCl4-induced lipid peroxidation and the covalent interactions of reactive metabolites with microsomal lipids or proteins and partially prevents CCl4-induced cytochrome P-450 destruction, but not glucose 6 phosphatase activity depression. Imipramine administration prior to CCl4 does not modify levels of the hepatotoxin reaching the liver or the body temperature of CCl4 treated animals. Early preventive effects of imipramine on cytochrome P-450, might be attributed to inhibition of covalent interactions of reactive metabolites. The hypothesis that imipramine exerted late preventive effects by interfering with calcium deleterious effects or by modulation of protein and phospholipid synthesis or degradation is analyzed.     

Qualitative alteration in hepatic microsomal cytochrome P-450 apoproteins associated with bile duct ligation, and the administration of ethinyl estradiol, phenobarbital and 3-methylcholanthrene

We have investigated in rat liver whether different forms of cytochrome P-450 are altered in hepatic disorders associated with impaired drug metabolism. Total hepatic cytochrome P-450 is decreased after either bile duct ligation or the administration of ethinyl estradiol. In contrast, phenobarbital administered alone increases hepatic content of cytochrome P-450, and when administered with ethinyl estradiol the reduction in cytochrome P-450 was prevented. Microsomal ethylmorphine N-demethylase activities paralleled changes in cytochrome P-450 content, except in bile duct ligation. where it is diminished to a greater extent. Four forms of microsomal cytochrome P-450 apoproteins. ranging in molecular weight from 50,000 to 58,000, were tentatively identified in a sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-6 M urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis system by their responsiveness to pharmacological agents, turnover and benzidine peroxidase staining. Phenobarbital administration increased primarily band IV (50,000 daltons); in contrast only band III (53,000 daltons) was responsive to 3-methyl-cholanthene. Bile duct ligation was associated with a marked reduction in bands I, III and IV while bands I and III were decreased with ethinyl estradiol administration. Simultaneous administration of phenobarbital and ethinyl estradiol demonstrated a return of band I and an increase in density of bands II and IV. The mechanism of this reversal by phenobarbital was determined by the double-isotope technique and demonstrates that phenobarbital increases the relative synthesis rates of P-450 apoproteins in ethinyl estradiol-treated rats. These sludies support the hypothesis that mulliple forms of cytochrome P-450 are present in liver microsomal membranes and that alterations in specific apoproteins may be associated with an increase or a decrease in the functional properties of cytochrome P-450.