Nicotinamide metabolism, aldehyde oxidase

In vitro metabolic studies with rodent and human liver microsomal prepara- tions have established that MPTP undergoes both oxidative N-demethylation and C-6 (allylic) oxidation in reactions that are -nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) dependent and therefore likely to be cytochrome P-450 catalyzed (Weissman et al. 1985 Ottoboni et al. 1990). Although the latter transformation can lead to the toxic pyridinium metabolite MPP, the cytochrome P450-catalyzed pathway is unlikely to contribute significantly to the neurotoxicity of MPTP. As mentioned above, liver aldehyde oxidase diverts the inter-mediate dihydropyridinium metabolite away from pyridinium ion formation by catalyzing the conversion of structure 40 to the nontoxic lactim structure 41. Further-more, even if formed in the periphery, the polar pyridinium metabolite would have limited access to the central nervous system (CNS). The low... 

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