Toxicity metabolic activation

The interactions may be physicochemical without the participation of biological mechanisms for example, deep lung exposure to highly soluble irritative gases, such as sulfur dioxide, may become enhanced due to adsorption of the gas onto fine particles. Biological interactions may occur at all stages and body sites. For example, toxicity is increased when adverse effects are due to some reactive metabolic intermediate and exposure to another agent stimulates its metabolic activation (enzyme induction). 

Covalent binding of chemicals to biological macromolecules can also cause toxicity. During biotransformation and metabolic activation, chemical compounds can be changed to free radicals, which have an unpaired... 

Although it is possible to identify a group of particularly toxic components in venom, it should be noted that the venoms are complex mixtures of components, many of which are synergistic. Muscle damage is particularly severe if myotoxic activity is combined with hemorrhagic activity. In this case, muscle regeneration is impaired, because the regenerating tissue is rendered anoxic at a time of intense metabolic activity. 

Allemand H, Pessayre D, Descatoire V, et al. 1978. Metabolic activation of trichloroethylene into a chemically reactive metabolite toxic to the liver. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 204 714-723. 

Some toxicity studies were performed analyzing Bfx and Fx mutagenic effects [240-242], For example, Bfx and Bfz nitro-substituted were tested for mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium) TA 98 and TA 100 strains with and without metabolic activation (Ames test). All the Bfx (10/10) and some of the Bfz (9/15) are mutagenic without activation. Other study has demonstrated benzofuroxan (128, Fig. 20) is mutagenic in the Luria and Del-brueck s fluctuation test, with Klebsiella pneumoniae, and in the Ames test. In another study it has been found that compound 137 (Fig. 21) is not mutagenic to S. typhimurium. 

Minchin, R.F. and Boyd, M.R. (1983). Localization of metabolic activation and deactivation systems in the lung. Significance to the pulmonary toxicity of xenobiotics. Ann. Rev. Pharmacol. Toxicol. 23, 217-238. 

K. Mizutani, T. Electronic and structural requirements for metabolic activation of butylated hydroxytoluene analogs to their quinone methides, intermediates responsible for lung toxicity in mice. Biol. Pharm. Bull. 1997, 20, 571-573. (c) McCracken, P. G. Bolton, J. L. Thatcher, G. R. J. Covalent modification of proteins and peptides by the quinone methide from 2-rm-butyl-4,6-dimethylphenol selectivity and reactivity with respect to competitive hydration. J. Org. Chem. 1997, 62, 1820-1825. (d) Reed, M. Thompson, D. C. Immunochemical visualization and identification of rat liver proteins adducted by 2,6-di- m-butyl-4-methylphenol (BHT). Chem. Res. Toxicol. 1997, 10, 1109-1117. (e) Lewis, M. A. Yoerg, D. G. Bolton, J. L. Thompson, J. Alkylation of 2 -deoxynucleosides and DNA by quinone methides derived from 2,6-di- m-butyl-4-methylphenol. Chem. Res. Toxicol. 1996, 9, 1368-1374. 

Witschi and colleagues19 identified the requirement for metabolic activation of BHT in determining that radioactivity from 14C-labeled BHT became covalently bound to proteins in mouse lung. Both toxicity and protein binding were prevented when mice were treated with cytochrome P450 inhibitors, thereby indicating the... 

Tetrachoroethylene (perchloroethylene, PCE) is the only chlorinated ethene that resists aerobic biodegradation. This compound can be dechlorinated to less- or nonchlorinated ethenes only under anaerobic conditions. This process, known as reductive dehalogenation, was initially thought to be a co-metabolic activity. Recently, however, it was shown that some bacteria species can use PCE as terminal electron acceptor in their basic metabolism i.e., they couple their growth with the reductive dechlorination of PCE.35 Reductive dehalogenation is a promising method for the remediation of PCE-contaminated sites, provided that the process is well controlled to prevent the buildup of even more toxic intermediates, such as the vinyl chloride, a proven carcinogen. 

Wernsdorfer and Trigg [147] reviewed the pharmacokinetics, metabolism, toxicity, and activity of primaquine. 

The presence of chemically reactive structural features in potential drug candidates, especially when caused by metabolism, has been linked to idiosyncratic toxicity [56,57] although in most cases this is hard to prove unambiguously, and there is no evidence that idiosyncratic toxicity is correlated with specific physical properties per se. The best strategy for the medicinal chemist is avoidance of the liabilities associated with inherently chemically reactive or metabolically activated functional groups [58]. For reactive metabolites, protein covalent-binding screens [59] and genetic toxicity tests (Ames) of putative metabolites, for example, embedded anilines, can be employed in risky chemical series. 

Fort, D.J., B.L. James, and J.A. Bantle. 1989. Evaluation of the developmental toxicity of five compounds with the frog embryo teratogenesis assay Xenopus (FETAX) and a metabolic activation system. Jour. Appl. Toxicol. 9 377-388. 

Toxin A colloidal poisonous substance that is a specific product of the metabolic activities of a living organism and notably toxic when introduced into living tissue. 

Induction of P-450 Metabolism and Isoenzymes. When organisms are exposed to certain xenobiotics their ability to metabolize a variety of chemicals is increased. This phenomenon can produce either a transitory reduction in the toxicity of a drug or an increase (if the metabolite is the more toxic species). However, this may not be the case with compounds that require metabolic activation. The exact toxicological outcome of such increased metabolism is dependent on the specific xenobiotic and its specific metabolic pathway. Since the outcome of a xenobiotic exposure can depend on the balance between those reactions that represent detoxication and those... 

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