Genetic analysis of drug metabolizing phase-I enzymes CYP3A4 in Tibetan populations

Interplay of Vitamin D and CYP3A4 Polymorphisms in Endocrine Disorders and Cancer

Vitamin D has received considerable optimistic attention as a potentially important factor in many pathological states over the past few decades. However, the proportion of the active form of vitamin D metabolites responsible for biological activity is highly questionable in disease states due to flexible alterations in the enzymes responsible for their metabolism. For instance, CYP3A4 plays a crucial role in the biotransformation of vitamin D and other drug substances. Food-drug and/or drug-drug interactions, the disease state, genetic polymorphism, age, sex, diet, and environmental factors all influence CYP3A4 activity. Genetic polymorphisms in CYP450-encoding genes have received considerable attention in the past few decades due to their extensive impact on the pharmacokinetic and dynamic properties of drugs and endogenous substances. In this review, we focused on CYP3A4 polymorphisms and their interplay with vitamin D metabolism and summarized the role of vitamin D in calcium homeostasis, bone diseases, diabetes, cancer, other diseases, and drug substances. We also reviewed clinical observations pertaining to CYP3A4 polymorphisms among the aforementioned disease conditions. In addition, we highlighted the future perspectives of studying the pharmacogenetics of CYP3A4, which may have potential clinical significance for developing novel diagnostic genetic markers that will ascertain disease risk and progression.

The Nrf2-Keap1 pathway: A secret weapon against pesticide persecution in Drosophila Kc cells

Nrf2-Keap1 pathway defends organisms against the detrimental effects of oxidative stress, and play pivotal roles in preventing xenobiotic-related toxicity. We designed experiments to explore and verify its role and function under deltamethrin (DM) stress. In experiments, DM was selected as the inducer, and Drosophila Kc cells were treated as the objects. The result showed the oxidative stress of cells proliferated in a very short time after DM treatment, reaching the maximum after one hour of treatment. The experimental data showed Nrf2 could be up-regulated and activated by DM which were manifested by the increase of Nrf2 mRNA, Nrf2 protein in the nucleus and the expression of detoxification enzyme genes. We further tested the activity of all groups, and found the survival rate of cells was basically proportional to the expression of Nrf2. Based on the above experimental results, Keap1 overexpression (K+), Nrf2 overexpression (N+) or interference (N-) cells were used to verified the relationship between Nrf2, cell survival and detoxification enzymes expression. We found the cell survival rate of N+ group was significantly higher than that of other groups and the expression of detoxification enzymes were increased compared to the control group. These results demonstrated that Nrf2 is related to cell detoxification and associated with the tolerance to DM. Our evidence suggested Nrf2 is a potential therapeutic target for oxidative stress and a potential molecular target gene of resistance control.