Microsomal oxidations system

The liver alcohol dehydrogenase mentioned in the preceding section has the same pro-R stereospecificity for NAD and ethanol as yeast alcohol dehydrogenase. Furthermore, the oxidation of ethanol by a microsomal oxidizing system, or by catalase and H2O2, likewise proceeds with pro-R stereospecificity for the ethanol77>. The catalase-H2C>2 system is so very different, however, from the pyridine nucleotide dehydrogenase, that one wonders whether the similarity in stereospecificity for ethanol is fortuitous. 

Evidence from animal bioassays supports the hypothesis that it is the cytosolic system and not the microsomal oxidative system that is responsible for the carcinogenicity of 1,2-dibromoethane. 

The same products are also obtained by oxidation of the dienol acetates with peroxybenzoic acid or by oxidation of the corresponding enones with the liver microsomal oxidation systems. 

Microsomal ethanol oxidizing system (MEOS) + NADPH... 

Ethanol is oxidized by alcohol dehydrogenase (in the presence of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide [NAD]) or the microsomal ethanol oxidizing system (MEOS) (in the presence of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate [NADPH]). Acetaldehyde, the first product in ethanol oxidation, is metabolized to acetic acid by aldehyde dehydrogenase in the presence of NAD. Acetic acid is broken down through the citric acid cycle to carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). Impairment of the metabolism of acetaldehyde to acetic acid is the major mechanism of action of disulfiram for the treatment of alcoholism. 

The microsomal ethanol oxidizing system is another mechanism of ethanol metabolism. CYP2E1 may be an important enzyme in the metabolism of ethanol in heavy drinkers, who may have a 10-fold increase in activity. Two aUehc variants in the gene cl and c2) are associated with differing enzymatic activity. Approximately 40% of Japanese have the more active c2 allele, which is rare in individuals of European heritage (Sun et al. 2002). It is not believed to be a risk or protective factor in the development of alcohohsm, although current studies are examining its relationship to a variety of ethanol-related diseases. 

Alternatively, acrylonitrile is metabolized to 2-cyanoethylene oxide by the microsomal enzyme system. 2-Cyanoethylene oxide can react directly with tissue macromolecules or it can be further metabolized to oxidation products that release cyanide. Cyanide is converted to thiocyanate and excreted in the urine. 2-Cyanoethylene oxide is also conjugated with glutathione and metabolized to 2- hydroxyethylmercapturic acid which is excreted in the urine. 

Iron complexes or microsomal nonheme iron are undoubtedly obligatory components in the microsomal oxidation of many organic compounds mediated by hydroxyl radicals. In 1980, Cohen and Cederbaum [27] suggested that rat liver microsomes oxidized ethanol, methional, 2-keto-4-thiomethylbutyric acid, and dimethylsulfoxide via hydrogen atom abstraction by hydroxyl radicals. Then, Ingelman-Sundberg and Ekstrom [28] assumed that the hydroxylation of aniline by reconstituted microsomal cytochrome P-450 system is mediated by hydroxyl radicals formed in the superoxide-driven Fenton reaction. Similar conclusion has been made for the explanation of inhibitory effects of pyrazole and 4-methylpyrazole on the microsomal oxidation of ethanol and DMSO [29],... 

Microsomal oxidation of amines and phenols may proceed by different ways. For example, it has been shown [42] that phentermine (2-methyl-l-phenyl-2-propylamine) is hydro-xylated to /V-hydroxyphcntcrminc by rat liver cytochrome P-450 system through a normal cytochrome P-450 way ... 

Molinate has a low toxicity to rats, oral LDso=720 mg/kg, and is rapidly metabolized by plants to CO2 (1) (5) and naturally occurring plant constituents (1). Molinate is also readily metabolized by soil microorganisms (6). After incubation of molinate with Bacillus sp. 24, Nocardia sp. 119, and Micrococcus sp. 22r which were isolated from Russian garden soils and rice field drains (7,8), it was found that molinate was completely degraded into various hydroxy and oxidized products in the medium. Molinate can be metabolized to its corresponding sulfoxide in the mouse in vivo and by the microsome-NADPH system of mouse liver (9, 10). Hubbell et al. (11) and DeBaun et al. (12) also found molinate sulfoxide along with other polar and nonpolar metabolites in rat urine. 

Benzo(a)pyrene is converted by the microsomal MFO system of mammals (18) and trout (25) to a number of oxidized products. 

Ginkgo extract has no effect on the hepatic microsomal drug oxidation system, as measured by antipyrine elimination, even at doses of 400 mg per day (Duche et al. 1989). Ginkgo metabolites, the substituted benzoic acids (4-hydroxybenzoic acid conjugate, 4-hydroxyhippuric acid, 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyhippuric acid, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, hippuric acid and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxybenzoic acid [vanillic acid]), are excreted in urine (Pietta et al. 1997). 

Dibromoethane is metabolized to active forms capable of inducing toxic effects by either of two systems-the microsomal monooxygenase system (cytochrome P-450 oxidation) and the cytosolic activation system (glutathione conjugation). Figure 2-3 provides an overview of the metabolism of... 

Figure 1. Oxidation and other reactions of dialiate and triallate indicating mutagenic activities of the products in the S. typhimurium TA 100 assay (revertants/ nanomole without activation/with activation / designates no data available). 2-Chloroacrolein is a dialiate metabolite in the mouse liver microsome-NADPH system. Dichloroallylsulfonic acid is a urinary metabolite of dialiate. The other compounds are potential metabolites of the respective thiocarbamates. The thio-carbamate sulfoxides are unstable at 25°C.

In addition to alcohol dehydrogenase, ethanol can be oxidized to acetaldehyde by the microsomal mixed-function oxidase system (cytochrome P450 2 El), as illustrated in Figure 35.1. Although this microsomal ethanol-oxidizing system probably has minor impor-... 

Metabolism of ethanol by alcohol dehydrogenase and the microsomal ethanol-oxidizing system (MEOS). Alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase are inhibited by fomepizole and disulfiram, respectively. NAD +, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide NADPH, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate. 

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