Rats are an important tool in pharmacology and toxicology. The authors focus on rat P450s in relation to diazepam metabolism. In particular, considerable attention is devoted to the CYP2D subfamily, ...which is a group of highly polymorphic enzymes. First, the metabolic profiles of diazepam of humans and other animals are compared. In this review, the authors describe a novel genetic polymorphism of diazepam observed in commonly used rat strains and compare it to human genetic polymorphisms. The genetic basis underlying diazepam polymorphism in rats is also discussed. The authors conclude that the metabolic capacities and major metabolic pathways of diazepam are quite different among rat strains and in the Wistar strain due to CYP2D3 genetic polymorphism, which is independent of the debrisoquine polymorphism catalyzed by CYP2D2. The situation, in which major metabolites differ depending on animal strain, will be highly problematic not only in pharmacokinetic studies of test compounds, but also in pharmacological or toxicological tests. This may provide researchers who use experimental animals insights into important aspects of the genetic background of experimental animals. Thus, great caution must be taken in the choice of rat strains for studies of drug metabolism.
The effects of the Eurycoma longifolia (also known as Tongkat Ali TA) on sleep and wakefulness was evaluated in C57BL/6 mice. While TA has been used as an aphrodisiac in males, it exhibits various ...pharmacological effects. The most notable effect observed with TA was wake‐enhancement during the second half of the active period, accompanied by significant elevations in core body temperature (CBT). In contrast, sleep was enhanced during the resting period (i.e., increase in rapid eye movement REM sleep and delta electroencephalography EEG power in non‐REM sleep) with significant declines in CBT. The transition of TA's effects between resting and active periods was rapid. The results of the experiments in constant darkness indicate that TA prolongs the circadian tau and that this transition is governed by circadian clock mechanisms rather than light exposure. TA did not demonstrate efficacy in aiding sleep in an acute stress‐induced insomnia model; thus, TA may be more suitable as a wake‐enhancing agent for daytime sleepiness, as sleep propensity tends to accumulate towards the end of active period. Since TA amplifies the rest‐activity pattern, prolongs circadian tau and increases REM sleep, thereby reversing some common symptoms seen in elderly subjects, it may also hold promise as a rejuvenating medicine.
Eurycoma longifolia, commonly known as Tongkat Ali (TA), is a native plant found in Southeast Asian rainforests, with a traditional reputation as a male aphrodisiac. Our study conducted in mice revealed that TA significantly increased wakefulness during the second half of the active period, accompanied by notable elevations in core body temperature (CBT). Conversely, it enhanced sleep during the resting period, characterized by increased rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and delta electroencephalography (EEG) power in non‐REM sleep, alongside substantial CBT reductions. TA effectively enhances the rest‐activity pattern, prolongs circadian tau and augments REM sleep. These effects have the potential to address common symptoms associated with ageing and may position TA as a rejuvenating medicinal option.
Diazepam (7-chloro-1,3-dihydro-1-methyl-5-phenyl-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one) is widely used as a sedative, hypnotic, and anti-anxiety drug. At low diazepam concentrations, p-hydroxylation is the ...major metabolic pathway in rat liver microsomes. However, there are marked ( approximately 300-fold) inter- and intrastrain differences in the activity among Sprague-Dawley, Brown Norway, Dark Agouti, and Wistar rats. In our previous study, we determined that a deficiency of CYP2D3 protein, not CYP2D2, was responsible for the inter- and intrastrain differences in diazepam p-hydroxylation (Drug Metab Dispos 33:1657-1660, 2005). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) did not provide enough evidence to explain the inter- and intrastrain differences in the expression of CYP2D3 protein. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed the insertion of a thymine in exon 8 of the CYP2D3 gene in the poor diazepam metabolizers. This single nucleotide mutation caused a shift in the reading frame and introduced a premature termination signal. It is noteworthy that the heme binding region, which is essential to maintain proper heme binding and active cytochrome P450 enzymes, was consequently deleted by the premature termination signal. In contrast, no mutation was detected in the CYP2D3 gene of extensive metabolizers. Thus, the truncated CYP2D3 must be a nonfunctional enzyme in poor metabolizers. In addition, we developed a convenient and specific genotyping assay using PCR-restriction, fragment-length polymorphism to distinguish homozygotes from heterozygotes. The genotyping gave results fully consistent with those of the inter- and intrastrain differences in diazepam p-hydroxylation.
Cytochrome P450 (P450) 2D2 (CYP2D2) enzyme is known to metabolize the majority of typical substrates of the human CYP2D6 enzyme, which is the most extensively characterized polymorphic ...drug-metabolizing enzyme. Despite its impact on drug metabolism in rats, the transcriptional regulation of CYP2D2 remains to be elucidated. We clarified the molecular mechanism of CYP2D2 gene expression. The CYP2D2 gene was positively regulated by the poly(C)-binding protein heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNP K) through a transcriptional regulatory element located in the 5'-flanking region from -94 to -113. To date, nothing is known about the potential role of hnRNP K in P450 gene regulation. Thus, this is the first report that hnRNP K protein is involved in CYP2D2 gene regulation. Furthermore, we elucidated the genetic basis of the extremely low expression of CYP2D2 mRNA in Dark Agouti (DA) rats. Because of its relatively low abundance, DA rats have been frequently used for the study of CYP2D substrate metabolism as the animal model of the poor metabolizer phenotype for CYP2D6 compared with Sprague-Dawley rats as an extensive metabolizer phenotype. We found a single substitution within the transcriptional regulatory element of the CYP2D2 gene in DA rats. The mutation was detected in the polypyrimidine sequence that is the preferred binding site for hnRNP K protein. The mutation within the transcriptional regulatory element attenuated the binding of hnRNP K protein. In conclusion, decreased recruitment of hnRNP K protein to the mutated sequence causes the low expression of CYP2D2 mRNA in DA rats.
Road distances are conveniently estimated from distance functions that frequently must be corrected with a multiplier, referred to as a circuity factor, in order to approximate actual travel ...distances. For various regions of the world, these circuity factors differ due to such factors as road network density, travel obstacles, in hilliness. In this note, the circuity factors resulting from a sampling of road networks for various countries and country regions throughout the world are presented. They are particularly useful in designing logistics networks, routing vehicles, and planning in other geographically based logistics applications.
Abstract Tongkat Ali (TA), also known as Eurycoma longifolia, has been used as a traditional herbal medicine for anti-aging, evidenced by clinical trials presenting the beneficial effects on energy, ...fatigue, and mood disturbance. We have recently shown that TA supplementation dose-dependently enhances the rest-activity pattern in C57BL/6 mice. Since destabilization of wakefulness and sleep is one of the typical symptoms of not only the elderly but also narcolepsy, we performed sleep analysis with and without dietary TA extract supplementation in middle-aged (10-12 months old) wild-type and narcoleptic DTA mice. We found that TA supplementation enhanced diurnal rhythms of locomotion and temperature in a time-of-day-dependent manner in WT mice but attenuated in DTA mice. In WT mice, TA supplementation consolidated wakefulness with long bout duration and led to less entries into sleep state during the active period, while it consolidated NREM sleep with long bout duration during the resting period. Neither disturbed sleep and wake cycle nor cataplexy was sufficiently improved in DTA mice. EEG spectral analysis revealed that TA supplementation enhanced SWA at both delta and low delta frequencies (0.5-4.0 and 0.5-2.0 Hz) during the light period, suggesting TA extract may induce vigilance during the active period, which then elicits a rebound effect during the resting period. Interestingly, DTA mice also slightly, but significantly, increased SWA at low frequencies during the light period. Taken together, our results suggest that TA supplementation enhances the Yin-Yang balance of sleep, temperature, and locomotion in WT mice, while its efficacy is limited in narcoleptic mice.
Knowledge of strain differences in drug metabolism is important for the selection of animals for pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and toxicological studies. Hepatic microsomes from Sprague-Dawley ...(SD) and Brown Norway (BN) rats had 300-fold higher diazepam p-hydroxylation activity than Dark Agouti (DA) and Wistar (W) rats at a low diazepam concentration (3 microM). Kinetic studies indicated that diazepam p-hydroxylation in SD and BN rats proceeded with lower K(m) and higher V(max) values than it did in DA and W rats. However, the expression levels of cytochrome P450 CYP2D1, the reported enzyme for diazepam p-hydroxylation, did not cosegregate with the activity. These results suggest the presence of a new high-affinity diazepam p-hydroxylation enzyme other than CYP2D1 in SD and BN rats. DA rats showed 3- and 2-fold higher diazepam 3-hydroxylation and N-desmethylation activities, respectively, than the other rat strains. In agreement with this, DA rat liver microsomes had a higher expression of CYP3A2, which is responsible for diazepam 3-hydroxylation and partly responsible for N-desmethylation. Values of CL(int) (V(max)/K(m)) indicated that p-hydroxy-diazepam is the major metabolite in SD and BN rats, whereas 3-hydroxy-diazepam is the major metabolite in DA and W rats. The sum of the CL(int) in each strain was in the order of DA > SD = BN >> W. Strain differences in the pharmacodynamics of diazepam between SD and DA rats may be due to these differences in diazepam metabolism. We found that both the rate of elimination of diazepam and the major metabolic pathways in diazepam metabolism differed among the different rat strains due to polymorphic expression of the two enzymes involved in diazepam metabolism.
Previously, we have reported drastic strain differences of diazepam metabolism in the livers of a variety of rat strain. In this study, to characterize strain and sex differences of diazepam ...metabolism in the kidney, renal microsomal diazepam metabolic activities were determined in the Dark Agouti (DA), Sprague-Dawley (SD), Brown Norway (BN) and Wistar (WS)strains of rat. We found that the major pathway of diazepam metabolism in the kidney was diazepam N-demethylation, which is different from that in the liver, 3-hydroxylation. A Dose-course (12.5-200 microM of diazepam) study revealed that the DA and WS male rats had higher diazepam N-demethylation activity than the SD and BN rats. In contrast to the males, a lower activity of diazepam N-demethylation was observed in female BN rats. By Western blot analysis, constitutive protein expressions of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C11, which is responsible for diazepam N-demethylation, were detected in the 4 strain in both the male and female rats, and the BN rats had lower expression levels of CYP2C11 protein. However, we did not observe significant differences in the kinetic parameters of diazepam N-demethylation. Our results suggested that there was a strain difference in CYP-dependent diazepam N-demethylation in the rat kidney, which is different from the finding in liver microsomes.
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