Phase biotransformation

Inorganic Lead. Inorganic lead ion in the body is not known to be metabolized or biotransformed (Phase I processes) it does form complexes with a variety of protein and non-protein ligands (see Section 2.4.1). Primarily, it is absorbed, distributed, and then excreted, often in complexed form (EPA 1986a). 

METEOR S biotransformation rules are generic reaction descriptors, and the versatile structural representation used in the system allows each atom or bond to have specific physicochemical properties. This approach provides more details than simple hard-coded functional group descriptors (313), but this flexibility also can give rise to an avalanche of data. METEOR manages the amount of data by predicting which metabolites are to be formed rather than all the possible outcomes (310,312,314,315). At high certainty levels, when chosen, only the more likely biotransformations are requested. At lower likelihood levels, the more common metabolites are also selected for examination. Currently, METEOR knowledge-based biotransformations are exclusively for mammalian biotransformations (phase I and phase II) (314,315). 

Two types of enzymatic pathways, the so-called phase I and phase II pathways, are generally implicated in drug biotransformation. Phase I pathways correspond to functionalization processes, whereas phase II correspond to biosynthetic or conjugative processes. Phase I functionalization processes include oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis, hydration, and isomerization reactions. 

Two phases can be distinguished in the pathways of biotransformation. Phase I involves addition of functionally reactive groups by oxidation, reduction or hydrolysis. Phase II consists of conjugation of reactive groups, present either in the parent molecule or after phase I transformation. Phenytoin, for example, is first hydroxylated by a phase I reaction and subsequently conjugated with glucuronic acid. The various phase I and phase II reactions are summarized in Tables 30.3 and 30.5. 

Biotransformation reactions can be classified as phase 1 and phase 11. In phase 1 reactions, dmgs are converted to product by processes of functionalization, including oxidation, reduction, dealkylation, and hydrolysis. Phase 11 or synthetic reactions involve coupling the dmg or its polar metaboHte to endogenous substrates and include methylation, acetylation, and glucuronidation (Table 1). 

The toxic effect depends both on lipid and blood solubility. I his will be illustrated with an example of anesthetic gases. The solubility of dinitrous oxide (N2O) in blood is very small therefore, it very quickly saturates in the blood, and its effect on the central nervous system is quick, but because N,0 is not highly lipid soluble, it does not cause deep anesthesia. Halothane and diethyl ether, in contrast, are very lipid soluble, and their solubility in the blood is also high. Thus, their saturation in the blood takes place slowly. For the same reason, the increase of tissue concentration is a slow process. On the other hand, the depression of the central nervous system may become deep, and may even cause death. During the elimination phase, the same processes occur in reverse order. N2O is rapidly eliminated whereas the elimination of halothane and diethyl ether is slow. In addition, only a small part of halothane and diethyl ether are eliminated via the lungs. They require first biotransformation and then elimination of the metabolites through the kidneys into the... 

The kinetic properties of chemical compounds include their absorption and distribution in the body, theit biotransformation to more soluble forms through metabolic processes in the liver and other metabolic organs, and the excretion of the metabolites in the urine, the bile, the exhaled air, and in the saliva. An important issue in toxicokinetics deals with the formation of reactive toxic intermediates during phase I metabolic reactions (see. Section 5.3.3). 

Absorption, distribution, biotransformation, and excretion of chemical compounds have been discussed as separate phenomena. In reality all these processes occur simultaneously, and are integrated processes, i.e., they all affect each other. In order to understand the movements of chemicals in the body, and for the delineation of the duration of action of a chemical m the organism, it is important to be able to quantify these toxicokinetic phases. For this purpose various models are used, of which the most widely utilized are the one-compartment, two-compartment, and various physiologically based pharmacokinetic models. These models resemble models used in ventilation engineering to characterize air exchange. 

The metabolism of foreign compounds (xenobiotics) often takes place in two consecutive reactions, classically referred to as phases one and two. Phase I is a functionalization of the lipophilic compound that can be used to attach a conjugate in Phase II. The conjugated product is usually sufficiently water-soluble to be excretable into the urine. The most important biotransformations of Phase I are aromatic and aliphatic hydroxylations catalyzed by cytochromes P450. Other Phase I enzymes are for example epoxide hydrolases or carboxylesterases. Typical Phase II enzymes are UDP-glucuronosyltrans-ferases, sulfotransferases, N-acetyltransferases and methyltransferases e.g. thiopurin S-methyltransferase. 

In phase 1, the pollutant is converted into a more water-soluble metabolites, by oxidation, hydrolysis, hydration, or reduction. Usually, phase 1 metabolism introduces one or more hydroxyl groups. In phase 2, a water-soluble endogenous species (usually an anion) is attached to the metabolite— very commonly through a hydroxyl group introduced during phase 1. Although this scheme describes the course of most biotransformations of lipophilic xenobiotics, there can be departures from it. 

The enzymes involved in the biotransformation of pollutants and other xenobiotics will now be described in more detail, starting with phase 1 enzymes and then moving on to phase 2 enzymes. 

FIGURE 2.14 Phase 2 biotransformation—conjugation. (1) Glucuronide formation. (2) Sulfate formation. (3) Glutathione conjugation. 

Mere alteration of the strnctnre of the contaminant by biotransformation may not necessarily be acceptable. For example, although anaerobic dechlorination of PCBs is desirable, microbial redaction of 3,3 -dichlorobenzidine, which is an intermediate in the manufacture of dyes, produced benzidine that is both more toxic and more snsceptible to dissemination in the aqnatic phase (Nyman et al. 1997). 

The strategy of manipulation of the macro-environment can be utilized for biotransformations. Thus, Zelinski and Kula (1997) have enzymatically reduced lipophillic ketones like 2-acetylnaphthalene using dimethylether of P-cyclodextrin in the organic phase. The use of cyclodextrin increases the solubility of the ketone by a factor of 147 resulting in high yields with excellent enantioseiectivity. 

Several experiments using different organic solvents in different biphasic media are necessary to find the adequate distribution of the reaction components. A series of experiments are essential for the choice of a process and for scaling-up. Experiments using Lewis cells [44] may yield useful results for understanding equilibrium, kinetics, and interactions between organic solvent-substrate and/or organic solvent-biocatalyst. A study of two-liquid phase biotransformation systems is detailed below in Sections II-IX. 

The volumetric ratio of the two liquid phases (j6 = Forg/ Faq) can affect the efficiency of substrate conversion in biphasic media. The biocatalyst stability and the reaction equilibrium shift are dependent on the volume ratio of the two phases [29]. In our previous work [37], we studied the importance of the nonpolar phase in a biphasic system (octane-buffer pH 9) by varying the volume of solvent. The ratio /I = 2/10 has been the most appropriate for an improvement of the yield of the two-enzyme (lipase-lipoxygenase) system. We found that a larger volume of organic phase decreases the total yield of conversion. Nevertheless, Antonini et al. [61] affirmed that changes in the ratios of phases in water-organic two-phase system have little effect upon biotransformation rate. 

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