K. Zhao et al., METABOLISM OF THE FOOD-DERIVED MUTAGEN AND CARCINOGEN 2-AMINO-1-METHYL-6-PHENYLIMIDAZO(4,5-B)PYRIDINE (PHIP) BY HUMAN LIVER-MICROSOMES, Carcinogenesis, 15(6), 1994, pp. 1285-1288
Animal studies have shown that 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo(4,5-b)
pyridine (PhIP) undergoes both activation to a genotoxic metabolite an
d detoxication, catalysed by CYP enzymes. In this study, using direct
chemical analysis, we have examined PhIP metabolism by the microsomal
fraction of human liver for comparison to that occurring in animals. P
hIP was incubated with human liver microsomes in the presence of an NA
DPH regenerating system and the reaction mixture then analyzed by HPLC
. Only one metabolite, identified as N-hydroxy PhIP, was produced. The
N-hydroxylation of PhIP by human liver microsomal fraction obeyed Mic
haelis - Menten kinetics, with a K-m of 55 mu M and a V-max of 666 pmo
l/min/mg protein. Furafylline, a potent and specific inhibitor of CYP1
A2 in man, inhibited this reaction by > 95%, with an IC50 of 0.6 mu M.
PhIP inhibited high affinity phenacetin O-deethylase activity of huma
n liver microsomes, an activity catalysed specifically by CYP1A2, with
an IC50 of about 80 mu M. These data indicate that, in human liver mi
crosomes, N-hydroxylation is the only route of oxidative metabolism of
PhIP, yielding a genotoxic species, and that this reaction is catalys
ed almost exclusively by CYP1A2. Furthermore, the exclusive oxidative
activation of PhIP by human liver is in direct contrast to PhIP metabo
lism in rodents and non-human primates where oxidative detoxication pr
oducts predominate.