Hepatic cellular metabolism mechanism

The mechanism in hepatic cellular metabolism involves an electron transport system that functions for many drugs and chemical substances. These reactions include O-demethylation, N-demethyla-tion, hydroxylation, nitro reduction and other classical biotransformations. The electron transport system contains the heme protein, cytochrome P-450 that is reduced by NADPH via a flavoprotein, cytochrome P-450 reductase. For oxidative metabolic reactions, cytochrome P-450, in its reduced state (Fe 2), incorporates one atom of oxygen into the drug substrate and another into water. Many metabolic reductive reactions also utilize this system. In addition, there is a lipid component, phosphatidylcholine, which is associated with the electron transport and is an obligatory requirement for... 

A number of experimental and clinical reports have suggested that a variety of factors unrelated to drug metabolism and direct hepatotoxicity may also influence susceptibility to DILL In addition, the nature of idiosyncratic liver injuries suggests that a majority of these reactions involve an immune mechanism. Hepatic cellular dysfunction and death have the ability to initiate immunological reactions, including both adaptive and innate immune responses. This inflammatory process has been implicated in the development of liver injury induced by such drugs as APAP, dihydralazine, and halothane (Laskin and Gardner 2003 Liu and Kaplowitz 2002 Luster et al. 2001). 

In addition to the well-known iron effects on peroxidative processes, there are also other mechanisms of iron-initiated free radical damage, one of them, the effect of iron ions on calcium metabolism. It has been shown that an increase in free cytosolic calcium may affect cellular redox balance. Stoyanovsky and Cederbaum [174] showed that in the presence of NADPH or ascorbic acid iron ions induced calcium release from liver microsomes. Calcium release occurred only under aerobic conditions and was inhibited by antioxidants Trolox C, glutathione, and ascorbate. It was suggested that the activation of calcium releasing channels by the redox cycling of iron ions may be an important factor in the stimulation of various hepatic disorders in humans with iron overload. 

PBBs and PBDEs may also cause toxicity by other mechanisms of action. For example, some PBB congeners can be metabolized to reactive arene oxides (Kohli and Safe 1976 Kohli et al. 1978) that may alkylate critical cellular macromolecules and result in injury. PBDEs may disrupt thyroid hormones by induction of hepatic microsomal UDPGT, which increases the rate of T4 conjugation and excretion, or by mimicking T4 or T3 PBDEs and their hydroxy metabolites are structurally similar to these thyroid hormones which are also hydroxy-halogenated diphenyl ethers (see Section 3.5.2). Clinical interventions designed to interfere with this mechanism or the metabolism of PBBs have yet to be developed. 

Thiram and other dithiocarbamates are metabolic poisons. The acute effects of thiram are very similar to that of carbon disulfide, supporting the notion that the common metabolite of this compound is responsible for its toxic effects. The exact mechanism of toxicity is still unclear, however it has been postulated that the intracellular action of thiram involves metabolites of carbon disulfide, causing microsome injury and cytochrome P450 disruption, leading to increased heme-oxygenase activity. The intracellular mechanism of toxicity of thiram may include inhibition of monoamine oxidase, altered vitamin Bg and tryptophan metabolism, and cellular deprivation of zinc and copper. It induces accumulation of acetaldehyde in the bloodstream following ethanol or paraldehyde treatment. Thiram inhibits the in vitro conversion of dopamine to noradrenalin in cardiac and adrenal medulla cell preparations. It depresses some hepatic microsomal demethylation reactions, microsomal cytochrome P450 content and the synthesis of phospholipids. Thiram has also been shown to have moderate inhibitory action on decarboxylases and, in fish, on muscle acetylcholinesterases. 

Effects attributed to chlordane exposure include blood dyscrasia, hepatotoxicity, neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity and cancer. Possible mechanisms of toxicity relevant to all target organs include the ability of chlordane and its metabolites to bind irreversibly to cellular macromolecules, inducing cell death or disrupting normal cell function. In addition, chlordane may increase tissue production of superoxide, which can accelerate lipid peroxidation, disrupting the function of cellular and subcellular membranes. Chlordane induces its own metabolism to toxic intermediates, which may exacerbate its hepatotoxicity. This may involve suppression of hepatic mitochondrial energy metabolism. 

In summary, our results define an important role for PPARa in the maintenance of cellular lipid and glucose homeostasis in vivo via the transcriptional control of target genes encoding mitochondrial and extra-mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation enzymes. We also demonstrate that gender-related mechanisms are involved in hepatic and cardiac lipid metabolism. Lastly, we propose that the PPARa -/- mouse may prove useful as a model of human diseases due to inborn and acquired alterations in cellular lipid metabolism. 

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