Effects of 3-methylcholanthrene on oxidized nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphatedependent dehydrogenases and selected metabolites in perfused rat liver

Assessment of the Functional Integrity of Hepatocytes: A Brief Review

A variety of approaches to assessment of cellular integrity exist, based on tests of integrity of the plasma membrane, tests of metabolic competence, and asessment of morphology. By definition, such approaches address different aspects of cellular integrity and hence are not interchangeable indices of cellular integrity. Accordingly, it would be most appropriate to characterise hepatocyte preparations on the basis of more than just trypan blue dye exclusion (a test of plasma membrane integrity) as is customary. A scheme for the choice of the most appropriate mix of tests of cellular integrity is presented.

Peroxisome proliferator perfluorodecanoic acid alters glutathione and related enzymes

Previously we have shown that treatment with the peroxisome proliferator perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) significantly increased hepatic reduced glutathione (GSH) content without altering the activity of selenium-glutathione peroxidase. In this study we examined some potential mechanisms by which PFDA treatment increases GSH levels. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were given a single injection of 0, 8.8, 17.5, and 35 mg PFDA in corn oil per kg body weight. Twelve days later the effects of PFDA on the activities of enzymes associated with GSH synthesis, utilization, and regeneration were assessed. The results showed that in a dose-dependent manner, PFDA treatment significantly decreased the activity of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase, while the activities of NADPH-generating enzymes, malic enzyme, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase were increased. PFDA treatment also dose dependently decreased cytosolic, but not microsomal, glutathione S-transferase activity, and the activity of glutathione reductase was decreased by the highest dose of PFDA. The data obtained suggest that increased hepatic GSH levels following PFDA treatment may result from increased regeneration and/or decreased utilization.

Phenobarbital treatment enhances insulin-mediated glucose metabolism and improves lipid metabolism in the diabetic rat

Previous studies with healthy volunteers and non-insulin-dependent diabetic (NIDDM) patients have shown a strong association between overall glucose metabolism and hepatic microsomal enzyme activity. In this study, the effects of 10-day oral administration of phenobarbital (PB), a potent inducer of the hepatic microsomal mixed-function oxidase system, on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in the basal state and on glucose kinetics during submaximal hyperinsulinemic (5 mU.kg-1.min-1 insulin) clamps were investigated in nondiabetic rats and in rats made diabetic by the intravenous (IV) administration of either low-dose (40 mg/kg) or high-dose (55 mg/kg) streptozocin (STZ). In control rats receiving PB in drinking water (0.5 mg/mL), serum insulin and triglyceride levels were diminished without any change in glucose and cholesterol concentrations in the fed state. Administration of PB in drinking water (0.25 mg/mL) to both groups of diabetic rats decreased their water intake and serum triglyceride levels in the absence of an effect on glucose, insulin, and cholesterol concentrations in the fed state. However, fasting serum glucose levels and basal glucose turnover rates were lower in both groups of diabetic rats receiving PB. PB treatment increased the heparin-releasable lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity of epididymal fat in both control and low-dose diabetic groups; this was not assessed in the high-dose diabetic group. Neither peripheral glucose utilization nor hepatic glucose production during submaximal insulin clamps was modified by PB treatment in nondiabetic rats. In contrast, PB administration enhanced insulin-mediated peripheral glucose utilization, as well as suppression of hepatic glucose production, in both low-dose and high-dose diabetic groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Reduction by acetylsalicylic acid of paracetamol-induced hepatic glutathione depletion in rats treated with 4,4'-dichlorobiphenyl, phenobarbitone and pregnenolone-16-alpha-carbonitrile

The role of enzyme induction in the reduction by acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) of paracetamol-induced hepatic glutathione (GSH) depletion has been studied in rats. Administration of an overdose of paracetamol to control rats resulted in an appreciable decrease of GSH concentration. Pretreatment with the enzyme inducers phenobarbitone, 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC), pregnenolone-16-alpha-carbonitrile (PCN) and 4,4'-dichlorobiphenyl (4,4'-DCB) significantly potentiated the paracetamol-induced depletion of GSH. Simultaneous administration of an equimolar dose of ASA resulted in a reduction of the paracetamol-induced depletion of GSH in all instances except for those rats that were not pretreated and those given 3-MC. Benorylate, the ASA ester of paracetamol, depressed rat liver GSH to levels comparable to those produced by the combination of paracetamol and ASA. ASA itself caused only minor changes in liver GSH concentrations. The results demonstrate that ASA causes a diminution of paracetamol-induced GSH depletion in rats with phenobarbitone type of enzyme induction. Inhibition of the formation of the reactive metabolite of paracetamol or reduction of the absorption rate of paracetamol seem to be unlikely as mechanisms underlying the ASA-induced effect. An ASA-mediated effect via changes of the hepatic thiol status is proposed.

Medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) enhances liver NADPH-generating enzyme activities in normal rats

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), an inducer of liver drug metabolism, on the ability of liver to generate NADPH, a reducing cofactor for drug oxidation reactions in normal rats and to compare these results with those obtained in rats receiving phenobarbital (PB), a well known inducer of liver drug metabolism. The results showed that: 1. Administration of MPA (100 mg/kg body wt) for a week increased liver wt and NADPH cytochrome P-450 reductase activity, suggesting that the compound induced liver drug metabolism. 2. The regimen also increased the activities of two NADPH generating enzymes, isocitrate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme, suggesting that MPA enhanced the capacity of normal liver tissue to produce NADPH. 3. Phenobarbital treatment increased the activities of three NADPH generating enzymes, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme, suggesting that MPA and PB differ in their effects on the liver NADPH-producing system.

NADPH as rate-limiting factor for microsomal metabolism. An alternative and economic NADPH-generating system for microsomal mono-oxygenase in in vitro genotoxicity studies

The effect of NADPH supply on enzymatic activity and its stability were investigated with respect to the mono-oxygenase activities of 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (ERD), dinemorphan N-demethylase (DND), aminopyrine N-demethylase (APD), 7-ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase (ECD) and p-nitroanisole O-demethylase (p-NAD) under incubation conditions for the liver microsomal assay (LMA). Experiments with S9 liver fractions of mouse (induced with Na-phenobarbital and beta-naphthoflavone) and rat (induced with Aroclor 1254) were set out at different pre-incubation times with and without exogenous isocitrate dehydrogenase (IC-DH) in the LMA. Such LMA mixtures contain Mn2+, NADP+, DL-isocitrate (IC) and endogenous IC-DH as NADPH-generating machinery. No changes in mono-oxygenase stability and lipid peroxidation (LP) were observed in the presence of exogenous IC-DH. The metabolizing capability at the considered times was the maximal one, as shown by no stability changes after the direct addition of IC-DH to the enzymatic assays. Exogenous IC-DH in the incubation for LMA did not alter the mitotic crossing-over and the mitotic gene conversion of dimethylnitrosamine (DMNA) and AR2MNFN (a nitroimidazo[2,1-b]thiazole) in the tester D7 strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It was concluded that endogenous IC-DH seems to be sufficient to provide a saturating level of NADPH for mono-oxygenase activities during incubations for LMA without additional external NADPH-generating enzyme activity.

Effects of perfluorodecanoic acid on hepatic indices of thyroid status in the rat

Perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) alters the circulating level of thyroid hormones, but the physiological significance of this change at the target tissue remains to be defined. To this end, the activities of thyroid-responsive hepatic enzymes were examined in adult male rats 1 week after treatment with a single dose of PFDA (20, 40 or 80 mg/kg). Since PFDA treatment caused a dose-related reduction in feed intake, vehicle-treated rats pair-fed to their counterparts receiving PFDA were used to determine if any of the PFDA-induced alterations in enzyme activity were secondary to hypophagia. Following the administration of PFDA, L-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, a liver mitochondrial enzyme sensitive to thyroid status, exhibited a modest increase in activity, whereas that of succinate dehydrogenase, a constitutive mitochondrial marker enzyme, was similar in both PFDA-treated rats and their pair-fed counterparts at all dose levels examined. Activity of cytosolic lactate dehydrogenase was also augmented modestly in livers of rats receiving PFDA. In contrast, activity of cytosolic malic enzyme, a thyroid-responsive enzyme, was increased markedly in PFDA-treated rats. Hepatic activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, which also responds to alterations in thyroid status, exhibited a modest increase with 20 and 40 mg/kg PFDA but was similar in both PFDA-treated rats and their pair-fed counterparts at the 80 mg/kg dose level. Absolute and relative liver mass was elevated in PFDA-treated rats at all dose levels in comparison to the appropriate vehicle-treated pair-fed animals. Total hepatic content of DNA was maintained in PFDA-treated rats at all dose levels, whereas a significant decrease in liver DNA was found in the vehicle-treated rats pair-fed to animals receiving 80 mg/kg PFDA. Following administration of PFDA, protein content per total liver was similar to that of their pair-fed counterparts. Thus, the pattern of activity of thyroid-responsive hepatic enzymes was not compatible with a functional shift toward a lessened thyroid status in rats treated with PFDA.

Maintenance of nicotinamide dinucleotide phosphate content and oxidation-reduction state during mixed-function oxidation of p-nitroanisole in isolated perfused livers of various species

The influence of p-nitroanisole, a substrate for mixed-function oxidation, on total NADP+ and NADPH and NADP+/NADPH ratios was examined in perfused livers from three different species. Studies were performed using livers from Sprague-Dawley rats, Syrian golden hamsters and C57BL/6J mice. Although rates of p-nitroanisole O-demethylation varied more than 16-fold in perfused livers from these species, NADP+/NADPH ratios calculated from measured concentrations of NADP+ and NADPH and from ratios calculated from substrate pairs assumed to be in near equilibrium with NADP+-dependent dehydrogenases remained remarkably constant under most conditions. Thus, rates of NADPH utilization and generation must be tightly coupled in perfused livers during high rates of mixed-function oxidation. Exceptions to the general pattern noted above occurred in livers of fasted, phenobarbital-treated rats where carbohydrate reserves were depleted and in livers from 3-methyl-cholanthrene-treated mice where rates of p-nitroanisole O-demethylation were exceptionally high. Livers from fed phenobarbital-treated rats displayed a paradoxical decrease in NADP+/NADPH ratios reflecting reduction calculated from substrates assumed to be in near equilibrium with 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase during mixed-function oxidation, suggesting that NADPH generation exceeded NADPH utilization in the rat in the fed state. In contrast, the NADP+/NADPH ratio calculated from measured pyridine nucleotides increased in livers of 3-methylcholanthrene-treated mice perfused with p-nitroanisole, reflecting oxidation. Moreover, the NADP+/NADPH ratio calculated from substrates assumed to be near equilibrium with 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase increased in livers of fasted rats, suggesting that utilization of NADPH exceeded generation. Thus, adequate carbohydrate reserves appear essential for maintenance of NADPH during high rates of mixed-function oxidation.

Hepatic indices of thyroid status in rats treated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin

The functional thyroid status of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)-treated rats is unknown. Therefore, activities of certain thyroid-responsive enzymes were examined in the livers of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats 1 week after treatment with TCDD (6.25, 25 or 100 micrograms/kg). Activity of the thyroid-responsive flavin L-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (per mg mitochondrial protein) was decreased slightly in livers of TCDD-treated rats, while that of succinate dehydrogenase remained unchanged. In contrast, activities (per mg supernatant protein) of three thyroid-responsive NADP-dependent cytosolic enzymes, malic enzyme, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, were increased by TCDD treatment in a dose-dependent manner. Lactate dehydrogenase (activity per mg supernatant protein) was also augmented slightly 1 week after TCDD administration. Liver mass was increased by TCDD treatment in a dose-dependent manner, but DNA content per liver was similar at all doses examined. Total hepatic protein, expressed per liver or mg hepatic DNA, was increased in TCDD-treated rats when compared to their pair-fed counterparts. The decreased activity of the mitochondrial L-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, in contrast to the increased activities of the supernatant enzymes, malic enzyme, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, is not consistent with a shift in functional thyroid status following TCDD treatment.

Regulation of hepatic malic enzyme by perfluorodecanoic acid

Perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) administration to adult male rats increased both the activity of hepatic malic enzyme and liver weight in a dose-dependent manner. Hepatomegaly and augmented activity of malic enzyme in liver were apparent within one day following PFDA administration and reached a plateau by three days posttreatment. Malic enzyme quantity per liver in PFDA-treated rats was elevated within one day following dosing and increased continually throughout five days posttreatment. Administration of PFDA to rats in the fed state also led to an increase in the specific activity of hepatic malic enzyme that peaked at three days following dosing. When compared to the fed condition, rats fasted for 48 hours had a decrease in both relative liver weight and the quantity of supernatant protein per liver. The total activity (U/liver) and specific activity of malic enzyme in the liver were also reduced in the fasted state. During the 24 hours after treatment in rats fasted for 48 hours, the body weight as well as the absolute and relative liver weight of animals receiving vehicle declined continuously in the absence of feed. Following the administration of PFDA to fasted rats, body weight was maintained until eight hours posttreatment but then declined at a rate similar to that found with the vehicle-treated group. Absolute and relative liver weight in PFDA-treated rats were increased significantly at eight hours posttreatment when compared to those receiving vehicle, and this increment was maintained throughout the rest of the 24 hours following dosing. While the activity and enzyme content of hepatic malic enzyme decreased in the vehicle-treated group, administration of PFDA to rats fasted for 48 hours prevented their decline. The specific activity of hepatic malic enzyme in 48 hours fasted rats receiving PFDA was also elevated significantly at 16 hours posttreatment. Thus, the administration of PFDA to the adult male rat in both the fed and fasted nutritional states was found to regulate hepatic malic enzyme by not only increasing enzyme quantity but also by augmenting the specific activity, (ie, catalytic state) of the enzyme.

A permeabilized cell system for studying regulation of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase: NADPH as rate limiting factor in benzo(a)pyrene metabolism

The disadvantage of a whole cell system for studying the metabolism of xenobiotics is that some substrates and regulatory molecules do not readily cross the cell membrane. The present study describes a technique to permeabilize H-4-II-E rat hepatoma cells for the study of benzo(a)pyrene metabolism. NADPH is an essential cofactor in the in vitro microsomal metabolism of benzo(a)pyrene and has been shown by indirect measurement to be a rate limiting factor in mixed function oxidase activity in whole liver perfusion systems. The role of NADPH has not been directly demonstrated in an intact cell system. Using this permeabilized whole cell system it is possible to directly demonstrate that NADPH is rate limiting in the mixed function oxidation of benzo(a)pyrene.

Mouse liver microsomal hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. NADPH generation and utilization in monooxygenation reactions

Hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (H6PD) activity in washed hepatic microsomes from male ICR mice, when assayed with NADP+ and deoxyglucose-6-phosphate, was partially latent. Brief sonication or detergents activated H6PD causing an approximately 4- and 8.5-fold increase in NADPH generation respectively. The sonicated microsomes exhibited H6PD-linked N-demethylase activity toward aminopyrine. This activity was best sustained in the presence of deoxyglucose-6-phosphate, while galactose-6-phosphate, glucose-6-phosphate, and glucose were less effective. Reaction media containing sonicated microsomes, NADP+ and deoxyglucose-6-phosphate also catalyzed N-demethylation of p-chloro-N-methylaniline, N,N-dimethylaniline and nicotine, O-demethylation of p-nitroanisole, p-hydroxylation of aniline, ring hydroxylation of biphenyl at the 2- and 4-positions, dearylation of parathion, and the N-oxidation of N,N-dimethylaniline. In general, the hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-linked monooxygenation rates were 60% or more of those observed in the presence of exogenous NADPH.