Eightfold induction of nicotine elimination in perfused rat liver by pretreatment with phenobarbital

Biotransformation of carbamazepine and nicotine in juvenile American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in vitro hepatic S9 vs. in situ perfused liver

American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) are apex predators and sentinel species in the coastal wetland ecosystem along the Gulf of Mexico. There is concern for alligator exposure and susceptibility to chemical contaminants due to their high trophic level and lower metabolic capability. At present, their hepatic biotransformation capacity to metabolize or detoxify contaminants has not been comprehensively determined. In this study, the hepatic biotransformation capability of juvenile American alligators to metabolize two commonly found environmental pharmaceuticals: carbamazepine (CBZ) or nicotine (NCT) was evaluated. The formation of their respective primary metabolites, i.e., carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide (CBZ-E) and cotinine (CTN), was evaluated at 10 μM (within the human therapeutic range). The in vitro S9 and a novel in situ liver perfusion assays were used to characterize and compare metabolic ability in isolated hepatic enzymes vs. whole organ (liver). For CBZ, the perfused livers exhibited only 30% of intrinsic formation clearance (CLf,int) relative to the S9 assay. The metabolism of NCT was not detectable in the S9 assay and was only observed in the perfused liver assay. Compared to the corresponding rat models (S9 or perfused livers),alligators' CLf,int was 2060% for CBZ and 50% for NCT of rats. Additionally, NCT exposure increased lactate levels in perfused livers indicating metabolic stress. This study provides insight into the hepatic capability of alligators to metabolize CBZ and NCT using an established in vitro (S9) system and a newly developed in situ liver perfusion system.

Optimization of an in situ liver perfusion method to evaluate hepatic function of juvenile American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)

American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) are a sentinel species whose health is representative of environmental quality. However, their susceptibility to various natural or anthropogenic stressors is yet to be comprehensively studied. Understanding hepatic function in such assessments is essential as the liver is the central organ in the metabolic physiology of an organism, and therefore influences its adaptive capability. In this study, a novel liver perfusion system was developed to study the hepatic physiology of juvenile alligators. First, a cannulation procedure was developed for an in situ liver perfusion preparation. Second, an optimal flow rate of 0.5 ml/min/g liver was determined based on the oxygen content in the effluent perfusate. Third, the efficacy of the liver preparation was tested by perfusing the liver with normoxic or hypoxic Tyrode's buffer while various biomarkers of hepatic function were monitored in the effluent perfusate. Our results showed that in the normoxic perfusion, the aspartate transferase (AST) and lactate/pyruvate ratio in the perfusate remained stable and within an acceptable physiological range for 6 h. In contrast, hypoxia exposure significantly increased the lactate/pyruvate ratio in the perfusate after 2 h, indicating an induction of anaerobic metabolism. These results suggest that the perfused liver remained viable during the perfusion period and exhibited the expected physiological response under hypoxia exposure. The liver perfusion system developed in this study provides an experimental framework with which to study the basic hepatic physiology of alligators and elucidate the effects of environmental or anthropogenic stressors on the metabolic physiology of this sentinel species.

Role of the lung in accumulation and metabolism of xenobiotic compounds--implications for chemically induced toxicity

The mammalian lung is exposed to and affected by many airborne and bloodborne foreign compounds. This review summarizes the role of lung in accumulation and metabolism of xenobiotics, some of which are spontaneously reactive or are metabolically activated to toxic intermediates. The specific architectural arrangement of mammalian lung favors that so-called pneumophilic drugs are filtered out of the blood and are retained within the tissue as shown in particular for amphetamine, chlorphentermine, amiodarone, imipramine, chlorpromazine, propranolol, local anaesthetics, and some miscellaneous therapeutics. There is strong evidence that intrapulmonary distribution activity and regulation of drug-metabolizing enzymes in lung is distinct from liver. This review focuses on the metabolic rate of selected compounds in lung such as 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine, local anesthetics, nicotine, benzo(alpha)pyrene, ipomeanol, 4-methylnitrosamino-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone. It is widely accepted that the formation of radical species is a key event in the pneumotoxic mechanisms induced by bleomycin, paraquat, 3-methylindole, butylhydroxytoluene, or nitrofurantoin. Finally, methodological approaches to assess the capacity of lung to eliminate foreign compounds as well as biochemical features of the pulmonary tissue are evaluated briefly.

Variables affecting nicotine metabolism

Nicotine metabolism is exceedingly sensitive to perturbation by numerous host factors. To reduce the large variations and discrepancies in the literature pertaining to nicotine metabolism, investigators in future studies need to recognize and better control these host factors. Recent advances in the understanding of nicotine metabolism have suggested new approaches to elucidating underlying mechanisms of certain toxic effects associated with cigarette smoking.

Nicotine metabolism by rat hepatic cytochrome P450s

Many kinds of cytochrome P450s were purified from rat hepatic microsomes, and their role in the metabolization of nicotine in a reconstituted system examined. Of four phenobarbital-inducible P450s, P450 2B1 had the highest nicotine oxidation activity and P450 2B2 showed a low rate of nicotine oxidation, whereas P450 2C6 and 3A2 had no detectable activity toward nicotine. Among eleven other purified cytochrome P450s tested, P450 2C11 had high nicotine oxidation activity and P450 1A2 and 2D1 showed low catalytic activity toward nicotine. The other cytochrome P450s, P450 1A1, 2A1, 2A2, 2C7, 2C12, 2C13, 2E1 and 4A1, had no detectable nicotine oxidation activity. Based on these results, participation of cytochrome P450s in nicotine metabolism in human and animal livers is discussed.

Metabolism of S-nicotine in noninduced and aroclor-induced rats

The urinary excretion of nicotine and its metabolites in noninduced and Aroclor-induced male and female rats has been determined following intravenous administration of 2'-[14C]-labeled S-nicotine at a dose of 4.6 mumol/kg. Complete recovery of the administered radioactivity was achieved: 95% in urine and 4% in feces over 96 h and 1% remaining in the body. More than 40 nicotine metabolites were found by radio-HPLC; 19 were identified including the cis/trans-diastereomers of nicotine-N'-oxide and 3'-hydroxycotinine. The urinary metabolite profile and excretion kinetics of nicotine and its metabolites were significantly different between noninduced and Aroclor-induced rats. The major urinary nicotine metabolite in the noninduced rat was cis-nicotine-N'-oxide. In the Aroclor-induced rat, cotinine metabolites were the major metabolites found. Sex differences were found for the urinary nicotine metabolite profile, mainly expressed in the excretion of cis-nicotine-N'-oxide, 29% in the male and 17% in the female noninduced rat, and the excretion of cotinine, 5% in the male and 12% in the female noninduced rat. High stereoselectivity was found for the formation of the cis/trans-diastereomers of nicotine-N'-oxide as well as of 3'-hydroxycotinine, the stereoselectivity being more pronounced in male rats.

Nicotine metabolism in isolated perfused lung and liver of phenobarbital- and benzoflavone-treated rats

The kinetics of nicotine elimination was investigated in isolated perfused lung and liver of phenobarbital (PB)- and 5,6-benzoflavone (BF)-pretreated rats. The estimated kinetic parameters demonstrated a high nicotine elimination rate in rat lung approaching the capacity of liver when both organs were in an uninduced state. The concentration-time profiles of cotinine as the main metabolite were almost identical for isolated lung and liver. In both organs the cotinine plasma concentrations reached a plateau level after 60 min of perfusion. Pretreatment of rats with 5,6-benzoflavone did not affect the rate of nicotine elimination and cotinine formation either in the lung or in the liver. Phenobarbital treatment, however, induced nicotine clearance in lung approximately 2-fold. This effect is quantitatively lower than the PB-related 8-fold induction of hepatic nicotine elimination observed in a previous study. The present results also indicate that the turnover of cotinine is markedly enhanced after PB induction. The elimination half-lives and clearance values for cotinine as the substrate were approximately 10-fold increased in rat liver after PB pretreatment. Thus, an important contribution of extrahepatic tissues to nicotine metabolism in rats has to be assumed. Moreover, since cotinine elimination is significantly increased after PB induction it is questionable whether cotinine plasma concentrations can further be used as suitable parameter for nicotine consumption.

Metabolism of nicotine by hepatocytes

The profile of nicotine metabolites produced by freshly isolated hepatocytes from rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, mice and humans was investigated after a 30-min exposure to nicotine ([2-14C]pyrrolidine). Large species differences occurred in the extent of nicotine metabolism; these ranged from 95% metabolism in guinea pig hepatocytes to only 30% metabolism in human and rat hepatocytes. The spectrum of metabolites formed also varied widely in different species. In hepatocytes from obese human subjects, nicotine was metabolized most extensively in smokers, least in nonsmokers, and to an intermediate degree in exsmokers, suggesting that cigarette smoking enhances the rate of nicotine metabolism. Pretreatment of all nonhuman species studied with phenobarbital and beta-naphthoflavone and with Aroclor in rats produced distinctive inductive patterns. Phenobarbital pretreatment of nonsmokers for 2 days prior to liver biopsy doubled the extent of nicotine conversion to cotinine by their hepatocytes. Rat and hamster hepatocytes exhibited sex and stereoselectivity differences in nicotine metabolism. Collectively, these studies indicate that hepatocytes offer some advantages over in vivo systems in investigating certain aspects of nicotine metabolism.

Increased hepatic nicotine elimination after phenobarbital induction in the conscious rat

Elimination parameters of [14C]nicotine in conscious rats receiving nicotine (0.3 mg/kg) either intravenously or orally were studied. The oral availability of unchanged nicotine, derived by comparison of the respective areas under the concentration vs time curves (AUC), was 89%, indicating low hepatic extraction ratios of about 10%. Pretreatment of rats with phenobarbital (PB) markedly increased hepatic first-pass extraction of nicotine. The oral availability of unchanged nicotine in plasma dropped to 1.4% of the corresponding values obtained from PB-treated rats receiving nicotine iv. After PB pretreatment, the clearance of iv nicotine was increased approximately twofold over controls, much less than the observed more than ninefold increase of hepatic first-pass extraction. It is assumed that extrahepatic metabolism contributed significantly to the rapid removal of nicotine from the plasma. The elimination of cotinine, originating from nicotine administered either po or iv, was significantly increased by PB pretreatment, as determined by the ratio of corresponding AUCs. The pattern of nicotine metabolites in urine also indicated an increase in the rate of cotinine metabolic turnover. The amount of norcotinine in the organic extract of urine paralleled PB microsomal enzyme induction. The ratio between urinary concentrations of the normetabolite and cotinine correlated strongly with the PB-induced state of rat liver. This may be a suitable indicator of PB-inducible hepatic cytochrome P450 isoenzyme(s). Since smoking habits in man are feedback-regulated by nicotine plasma concentrations, a similar increase of nicotine elimination by microsomal enzyme induction in man may be of relevance for tobacco consumption.

Rabbit nasal cytochrome P-450 NMa has high activity as a nicotine oxidase

Rabbit nasal olfactory and respiratory microsomes demonstrate high activity toward [3H]-(S)-nicotine, with specific activities of 22.2 and 6.5 nmol/min/mg protein, respectively. The major metabolite produced is (S)-nicotine delta 1'; 5'-iminium ion, with lesser amounts of nornicotine and the N'-oxide. Reconstitution of the rabbit nasal microsomal system with cytochromes P-450 NMa and NMb indicated that only P-450 NMa has significant activity toward nicotine, and the metabolite profile and turnover are similar to that observed with nasal microsomes. The low Km (35 microMs) and high Vmax (28 min-1) suggest that a significant portion of inhaled nicotine is metabolized by nasal tissues in the rabbit.