Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.6.1.2 (alanine aminotransferase)
26,722 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Nutritional status is a primary factor in the effects of xenobiotics and may be an important consideration in development of safety standards and assessment of risk. One important xenobiotic consumed daily by millions of people worldwide is alcohol. Some adverse effects of ethanol, such as alcohol liver disease, have been linked to diet. For example, ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity in animal models requires diets that have a high percentage of the total calories as unsaturated fat. However, little attention has been given to the role of carbohydrates (or carbohydrate to fat ratio) in the effects of this important xenobiotic on liver injury. In the present study, adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (8-10/group) were infused (intragastrically) diets high in unsaturated fat (25 or 45% total calories), sufficient protein (16%) and ethanol (38%) in the presence or absence of adequate carbohydrate (21 or 2.5%) for 42-55 days (d). Animals infused ethanol-containing diets adequate in carbohydrate developed steatosis, but had no other signs of hepatic pathology. However, rats infused with the carbohydrate-deficient diet had a 4-fold increase in serum ALT levels (p < 0.05), an unexpectedly high (34-fold) induction of hepatic microsomal CYP2E1 apoprotein (p < 0.001), and focal necrosis. The strong positive association between low dietary carbohydrate, enhanced CYP2E1 induction and hepatic necrosis suggests that in the presence of low carbohydrate intake, ethanol induction of CYP2E1 is enhanced to levels sufficient to cause necrosis, possibly through reactive oxygen species and other free radicals generated by CYP2E1 metabolism of ethanol and unsaturated fatty acids.
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PMID:Diet and risk of ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity: carbohydrate-fat relationships in rats. 1004 59

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) has previously been reported to protect against hepatotoxicity resulting from chloroform (CHCl3) or bromobenzene (BB) when given 10 hr after the toxicant. The object of these studies was to further demonstrate the latent protective ability of DMSO by administering it at a much later time (24 hr) following toxicant exposure. In addition, a more detailed evaluation of the lesions was performed to better characterize the lesion progression and resolution. Male Sprague-Dawley rats received a hepatotoxic oral dose of either CHCl3 (1.0 ml/kg) or BB (0.5 ml/kg) and then received 2 ml/kg DMSO intraperitoneally 24 hr later. With both toxicants, limited centrilobular lesions were already present by the time DMSO was administered. Without treatment, liver injury rapidly progressed so that by 48 hr it occupied 40-50% of the liver, with accompanying large increases in plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity. Administration of DMSO greatly attenuated lesion development for both toxicants; the area injured was reduced by more than 4-fold, accompanied by a decrease in 48 hr ALT activity of 8-16-fold. The ability of DMSO to intervene in the development of liver injury at such a late time appears to be unique and may provide insight into therapies for acute xenobiotic-induced hepatitis.
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PMID:Hepatoprotection by dimethyl sulfoxide. I. Protection when given twenty-four hours after chloroform or bromobenzene. 1035 11

Living organisms employ a variety of metabolic pathways when detoxifying xenobiotic compounds, including the formation of cysteine S-conjugates via glutathione conjugation. However, cysteine conjugate beta-lyase (CCBL) catalysed beta-cleavage, of certain cysteine conjugates, is known to cause cytotoxicity. This study represents the first investigation into the expression of CCBL and other associated enzymes in helminth species. A survey of the three major groups of parasitic helminths [cestodes (Moniezia expansa), digeneans (Fasciola hepatica) and nematodes (Necator americanus, Heligmosomoides polygyrus)] has been made. The presence of CCBL enzymes within Moniezia expansa, Necator americanus and Heligmosomoides polygyrus has been established. Each species was screened for gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity and transaminase activity towards L-aspartate, L-alanine, L-albizziin and L-phenylalanine. Aspartate and alanine aminotransferase activity were detected in all four species tested. Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity was only detected in Moniezia expansa and Necator americanus.
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PMID:Cysteine conjugate beta-lyase activity in three species of parasitic helminth. 1042 30

Individuals are commonly exposed to bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide [LPS]) through gram-negative bacterial infection and from its translocation from the gastrointestinal lumen into the circulation. Inasmuch as noninjurious doses of LPS augment the hepatotoxicity of certain xenobiotic agents, exposure to small amounts of LPS may be an important determinant of susceptibility to chemical intoxication. Monocrotaline (MCT) is a pyrrolizidine alkaloid phytotoxin that at large doses produces centrilobular liver lesions in rats. In the present study, MCT was coadministered with LPS to determine whether LPS would enhance its hepatotoxicity. Doses of MCT (100 mg/kg, ip) and LPS (7.4 x 10(6) EU/kg, iv), which were nonhepatotoxic when administered separately, produced significant liver injury in male, Sprague-Dawley rats when given in combination. Within 18 h after MCT administration, this cotreatment resulted in enhanced plasma alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities, two markers of liver injury. Histologically, overt hemorrhage and necrosis appeared between 12 and 18 h. The lesions were centrilobular and midzonal and exhibited characteristics similar to lesions associated with larger doses of MCT and LPS, respectively. In the presence of LPS, the threshold for MCT toxicity was reduced to 13-33% of the dose required for toxicity with MCT alone. A study in isolated, hepatic parenchymal cells revealed no interaction between MCT and LPS in producing cytotoxicity. In summary, coexposure of rats to noninjurious doses of MCT and LPS resulted in pronounced liver injury. Results in vitro suggest that the enhanced toxicity does not result from a direct interaction of MCT and LPS with hepatic parenchymal cells. These results provide additional evidence that exposure to small amounts of LPS may be a determinant of susceptibility to food-borne hepatotoxins.
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PMID:Synergistic hepatotoxicity from coexposure to bacterial endotoxin and the pyrrolizidine alkaloid monocrotaline. 1090 81

Male mice of Balb/C strain were administered i.p. carbon tetrachloride, in single doses of 35 and 145 mg/kg, given at variable time of the day. The activity of alanine aminotransferase (ALAT) in serum, and the hepatic level of malondialdehyde (MDA) as well as reduced glutathione (GSH) were adopted as indicators of toxicity. In selected groups, liver histopathology was carried out. The experiment was performed in two series differing in the dynamics of observations. A differentiation of the intensity of toxic effects was found dependent on the time of the day at which animals were administered the xenobiotic. This was especially evident for a lower dose: given in the morning it produced no effects, whereas given in the evening it resulted in distinct elevation of toxicity indicators. Additionally, the correlation was checked between the histopathological evaluation (semiquantitative expression) and serum ALAT activity. A high correlation (r = 0.98) allows for basing the evaluation of liver necrosis on the ALAT activity alone.
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PMID:Circadian variations in hepatotoxicity of carbon tetrachloride in mice. 1096 46

Nrf2, which belongs to the basic leucine zipper (bZip) transcription factor family, has been implicated as a key molecule involved in antioxidant-responsive element (ARE)-mediated gene expression. In order to examine the role of Nrf2 in protection against xenobiotic toxicity, the sensitivity of nrf2 knockout mice to acetaminophen (N-acetyl-4-aminophenol (APAP)) was analyzed. The saturation of detoxification pathways after high levels of exposure to APAP is known to induce hepatotoxicity. Two factors important in its detoxification are UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UDP-GT), an ARE-regulated phase-II drug-metabolizing enzyme, and glutathione (GSH), an antioxidant molecule whose synthesis depends on ARE-regulated gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gammaGCS). Two- to 4-month-old male mice were orally administered a single dose of APAP at 0, 150, 300, or 600 mg/kg. Doses of 300 mg/kg APAP or greater caused death in the homozygous knockout mice only, and those that survived showed a greater severity in hepatic damage than the wild-type mice, as demonstrated by increased plasma alanine aminotransferase activity, decreased hepatic non-protein sulfhydryl (NPSH) content, and centrilobular hepatocellular necrosis. The high sensitivity of Nrf2-deficient mice was confirmed from observations made at 0, 2, 8, and 24 h after dosing with 300 mg/kg APAP; increased anti-APAP immunoreactivity was also noted in their livers at 2 h. Untreated homozygous knockout mice showed both a lower UDP-GT activity and NPSH content, which corresponded to decreased mRNA levels of UDP-GT (Ugt1a6) and the heavy chain of gammaGCS, respectively. These results show that Nrf2 plays a protective role against APAP hepatotoxicity by regulating both drug metabolizing enzymes and antioxidant genes through the ARE.
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PMID:High sensitivity of Nrf2 knockout mice to acetaminophen hepatotoxicity associated with decreased expression of ARE-regulated drug metabolizing enzymes and antioxidant genes. 1113 56

The European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) was exposed to diesel oil water-soluble fraction (DWSF) and gasoline water-soluble fraction (GWSF). The potential of these fractions to induce endocrine disruption, carbohydrate, and xenobiotic metabolism effects, as well as genotoxic responses, was investigated in a time-course laboratory study (3 h to 6 days). Both water-soluble fractions induced a time-related increase in liver ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity, as well as the appearance of erythrocytic nuclear abnormalities (ENA) after a 6-day exposure, revealing its genotoxic properties. Initially, DWSF exposure revealed an inhibition of the typical stress responses demonstrated by plasma cortisol and lactate decrease. Nevertheless, this effect progressively disappeared, allowing a plasma glucose and lactate increase after 6 days of exposure. Fish exposed to GWSF exhibited a liver alanine transaminase (ALT) activity increase after a short exposure while the longest exposure revealed liver damage expressed as an ALT activity decrease. A field caging experiment, carried out in a harbor area (Aveiro Lagoon, Portugal), and a complementary laboratory experiment were designed to assess the influence of the daily tide dynamic on polyaromatic hydrocarbon water distribution and effects on liver EROD and ALT activities, as well as ENA frequency. Eels exposed to low- and high-tide harbor waters, in the laboratory, exhibited a similar degree of genotoxicity, whereas clear differences were observed as EROD induction. In the field experiment, caged eels did not display significant responses enhancing the relevance of natural environmental factors on toxicity mechanisms as well as on the apparent lack of toxicity in harbor waters.
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PMID:Biotransformation, endocrine, and genetic responses of Anguilla anguilla L. to petroleum distillate products and environmentally contaminated waters. 1138 17

The effects of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) such as naphthalene (NAP)--an environmental contaminant--and beta-naphthoflavone (BNF)--a model substance (PAH-like compound)--were investigated in European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) over 3-, 6-, and 9-day exposure (0.1-2.7 microM). Both xenobiotics revealed to be strong biotransformation (phase I) inducers. After 3-day exposure, liver ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity was significantly increased by all NAP and BNF tested concentrations. At 6 and 9 days, liver EROD activity was significantly induced mainly by the highest NAP and BNF concentrations. Liver cytochrome P450 content was significantly induced after 3-day exposure to 0.9 and 2.7 microM BNF and 9-day exposure to 0.1, 0.3 and 0.9 microM NAP. Liver alanine transaminase (ALT) activity was measured as an indicator of hepatic health condition, revealing a significant decrease after 6-day exposure to 0.9 microM BNF. Genotoxicity measured as erythrocytic nuclear abnormalities (ENA) was detected in all BNF treated fish on day 6, whereas on day 9, ENA frequencies returned to control levels, significantly decreasing at 0.9 microM BNF exposure. Immature erythrocytes (IE) frequency demonstrated a decreasing tendency along the BNF experiment and concomitantly with the above ENA response. The present experimental results elect EROD activity in A. anguilla as a useful short- to medium-term biomarker of exposure to both PAH and PAH-like compounds. However, some problems can emerge in the presence of high xenobiotic concentrations. Concerning genotoxicity, it is hypothesized that ENA response depends on different factors such as the exhaustion of the detoxification process, the balance erythropoiesis/erythrocytic catabolism and the DNA repairing capacity.
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PMID:Naphthalene and beta-naphthoflavone effects on Anguilla anguilla L. hepatic metabolism and erythrocytic nuclear abnormalities. 1222 Jan 15

Drug idiosyncrasy is an adverse event of unknown etiology that occurs in a small fraction of people taking a drug. Some idiosyncratic drug reactions may occur from episodic decreases in the threshold for drug hepatotoxicity. Previous studies in rats have shown that modest underlying inflammation triggered by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can decrease the threshold for xenobiotic hepatotoxicity. The histamine-2 (H2)-receptor antagonist ranitidine (RAN) causes idiosyncratic reactions in people, with liver as a usual target. We tested the hypothesis that RAN could be rendered hepatotoxic in animals undergoing a modest inflammatory response. Male rats were treated with a nonhepatotoxic dose of LPS (44 x 10(6) endotoxin units/kg i.v.) or its vehicle and then 2 h later with a nonhepatotoxic dose of RAN (30 mg/kg i.v.) or its vehicle. Liver injury was evident only in animals treated with both RAN and LPS as estimated by increases in serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and gamma-glutamyl transferase activities within 6 h after RAN administration. LPS/RAN cotreatment resulted in midzonal liver lesions characterized by acute necrosuppurative hepatitis. Famotidine (FAM) is an H2-antagonist for which the propensity for idiosyncratic reactions is far less than RAN. Rats given LPS and FAM at a dose pharmacologically equipotent to that of RAN did not develop liver injury. In vitro, RAN sensitized hepatocytes to killing by cytotoxic products from activated neutrophils, whereas FAM lacked this ability. The results indicate that a response resembling human RAN idiosyncrasy can be reproduced in animals by RAN exposure during modest inflammation.
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PMID:Ranitidine treatment during a modest inflammatory response precipitates idiosyncrasy-like liver injury in rats. 1289 37

Nontoxic doses of endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) enhance the hepatotoxicity of many xenobiotic agents, including allyl alcohol. Systemic LPS exposure induces an inflammatory response, including accumulation and activation of neutrophils (PMNs) in the liver. The hypothesis that PMNs play a causal role in LPS enhancement of allyl alcohol hepatotoxicity was tested. Rats were pretreated with an anti-neutrophil antibody (anti-PMN immunoglobulin [lg]) to deplete circulating PMNs. Subsequently, they were given LPS or its vehicle, and 2 h later allyl alcohol was administered. The numbers of circulating and hepatic PMNs were decreased in rats pretreated with anti-PMN lg, and liver toxicity induced by cotreatment with LPS and allyl alcohol was attenuated. Treatment with allyl alcohol diminishes the concentration of reduced glutathione (GSH) in liver, raising the possibility that antioxidant defense was compromised in these livers. Accordingly, the hypothesis was tested that allyl alcohol-induced reduction in GSH renders liver cells more sensitive to reactive oxygen species produced by activated PMNs. Isolated hepatocytes were incubated with allyl alcohol in the presence and absence of isolated PMNs stimulated to produce reactive oxygen species. Allyl alcohol produced a concentration-dependent increase in ALT release from hepatocytes. Activated PMNs produced a statistically significant increase in cell killing that was so small it is unlikely to explain the role of PMNs in liver injury in vivo. To test the hypothesis that proteases released from activated PMNs increase the sensitivity of liver cells to allyl alcohol, isolated hepatocytes were incubated with medium from PMNs activated to undergo degranulation. Protease-containing medium from PMNs did not affect allyl alcohol-induced release of ALT from hepatocytes. Taken together, these results indicate that PMNs play a role in the potentiation of allyl alcohol toxicity by LPS. It is unlikely that PMNs contribute to this injury through release of reactive oxygen species or proteases, and other mechanisms must be involved.
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PMID:Neutrophils contribute to endotoxin enhancement of allyl alcohol hepatotoxicity. 1520 35


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