Carcinogenesis, Vol 18, 1979-1984, Copyright © 1997 by Oxford University Press
J Lamoureux and A Castonguay
The N-nitrosamine 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) is a
potent lung carcinogen present in tobacco and tobacco smoke. Carbonyl
reduction, alpha-carbon hydroxylation (activation) and N- oxidation of the
pyridyl ring (detoxification) are the three main pathways of metabolism of
NNK. In this study, metabolism of NNK was studied with lung and liver
microsomes from F344 rats, Syrian golden hamsters and pigs and cloned
flavin-containing monooxygenases (FMOs) from human and rabbit liver.
Thermal inactivation at 45 degrees C for 2 min reduced FMO S-oxygenating
activity but did not affect N-oxidation of NNK, leading to the conclusion
that FMOs are not implicated in the detoxification of NNK. Detoxification
of NNK was not increased by n- octylamine or by incubation at pH 8.4,
supporting the conclusion that FMOs are not involved in the metabolism of
NNK. SKF-525A (1 mM) significantly reduced N-oxidation and alpha-carbon
hydroxylation, suggesting that these two pathways were catalyzed by
cytochromes P450. Metabolism of NNK was lower with lung microsomes than
with liver microsomes. Inhibition of metabolism of NNK by SKF-525A was also
observed with rat lung microsomes, leading to the conclusion that
cytochromes P450 are involved in pulmonary metabolism of NNK. Cloned FMOs
did not metabolize NNK. In conclusion, cytochromes P450 rather than FMOs
are involved in N-oxidation of NNK. The high capacity of hamster liver
microsomes to activate NNK does not correlate with the resistance of this
tissue to NNK-induced hepatocarcinogenesis.
ARTICLES
Absence of metabolism of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) by flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO)
Laboratory of Cancer Etiology and Chemoprevention, Faculty of Pharmacy, Laval University, Quebec City, Canada.
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