low-Km Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Research Articles

Disulfiram-like effect of diethyl maleate on barbiturate-induced hypnosis and 5-hydroxytryptamine metabolism.

Diethyl maleate (DEM, 600 mg kg-1 i.p.) significantly potentiated hexobarbitone hypnosis and lowered plasma hexobarbitone level on awakening. Sleeping time following intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of phenobarbitone was also prolonged by DEM treatment. When administered to DEM-treated rats, L-tryptophan (50 mg kg-1 i.p.) significantly potentiated hexobarbitone hypnosis, although alone it had no effect in control rats. DEM markedly diminished the activity of brain low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase (A1DH) and the formation of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid from 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) without affecting MAO activity in various areas of the brain. Conversely, the protein-bound radioactivity derived from i.c.v. [14C]-5-HT was increased by DEM treatment. These results showed that DEM is comparable with disulfiram, a brain A1DH inhibitor, in terms of its effect on 5-HT metabolism and barbiturate hypnosis.

ALDH2 and CYP2E1 genotypes, urinary acetaldehyde excretion and the health consequences in moderate alcohol consumers

Deficiencies in mitochondrial low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) activity, and consequently high blood acetaldehyde levels, have been suggested to relate to various diseases in Japanese, including esophageal cancer. In the present study, 200 men aged 35-59 years randomly selected from an occupational population were analyzed for the association of ALDH2 genotypes and cytochrome P450-2E1 (CYP2E1) genotypes with the urinary excretion of acetaldehyde (which is bound to some chemicals in the urine) and with common alcohol-related health consequences. Urinary acetaldehyde excretion was increased, reflecting increased alcohol consumption even in this moderate alcohol-consuming population. Neither the ALDH2 nor the CYP2E1 genotypes showed significant influence on the elevation of urinary acetaldehyde excretion. Neither these genotypes nor urinary acetaldehyde concentration significantly affected blood pressure, serum aspartate aminotransferase and gamma-glutamyl transferase activities, or serum HDL-cholesterol and lipid peroxide concentrations. It was concluded that acetaldehyde accumulates in moderate alcohol consumers irrespective of ALDH2 and CYP2E1 genotype, and that the implications of these genotypes and acetaldehyde accumulation in terms of common alcohol-related health consequences were obscure. The results also suggest that the carcinogenicity of acetaldehyde on esophageal mucosa depends greatly upon repeated exposure to high blood acetaldehyde, even through transient rather than chronic exposure.

Oxidation of acetaldehyde by isolated aortic rings of UChA and UChB rats

The rate of acetaldehyde metabolism was measured in aortic rings from rat strains genetically bred for high (UChB) and low (UChA) voluntary ethanol consumption. The results show that in aortic rings from naive UChB rats, acetaldehyde oxidation rates were significantly greater than the rates observed in aortic rings from naive UChA rats. These strain differences are explained by different activity of vascular low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Chronic feeding of ethanol to UChA rats did not alter their aortic ALDH activity. The results of the present study provides additional evidence that the activity variation for the low-Km ALDH between both rat strains exists in various organs and tissues.

Mechanism for benomyl action as a mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitor in mice.

Benomyl (a non-thio fungicide) inhibits hepatic mitochondrial low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase (mALDH or ALDH2) in ip-treated mice by 50% (IC50) at 7.0 mg/kg, which is surprisingly the same potency range as that for several dithiocarbamate fungicides (and the related alcohol abuse drug disulfiram) and thiocarbamate herbicides previously known for their alcohol-sensitizing action. The mechanism by which benomyl inhibits mALDH was therefore examined, first by comparing the metabolism of benomyl with the aforementioned mono- and dithiocarbamates and second by evaluating the inhibitory potency of the benomyl metabolites. Benomyl in ip-treated mice is converted, via butyl isocyanate, S-(N-butylcarbamoyl)glutathione, and S-(N-butylcarbamoyl)cysteine, to S-methyl N-butylthiocarbamate (MBT), identified as a transient metabolite in liver. MBT is >10-fold more potent than benomyl or butyl isocyanate as an in vivo mALDH inhibitor and is also more potent than the intermediary S-(N-butylcarbamoyl) conjugates. Benomyl and MBT inhibit mouse hepatic mALDH in vitro with IC50s of 0.77 and 8.7 microM, respectively. The potency of MBT is greatly enhanced by fortification of the mitochondria with NADPH alone or plus microsomes giving IC50s of 0.50 and 0.23 microM, respectively. This activation of MBT is almost completely blocked by the cytochrome P450 inhibitor N-benzylimidazole but not by several other cytochrome P450 inactivators. MBT (probably following bioactivation) inhibits mALDH in vivo with an IC50 of 0.3 mg/kg. Two candidate activation products were synthesized for potency determinations. N-Hydroxy MBT (prepared via the trimethylsilyl derivative) was not detected as an MBT metabolite; its low potency also rules against N-hydroxylation as the activation process. MBT sulfoxide, from oxidation of MBT with magnesium monoperoxyphthalate in water, is one of the most potent inhibitors known for mALDH and yeast ALDH in vitro (IC50 0.08-0.09 microM). These findings are consistent with a six-step bioactivation of benomyl, via the metabolites above and N-butylthiocarbamic acid, with MBT as the penultimate and MBT sulfoxide as the ultimate inhibitor of mALDH.

Acetaldehyde metabolism by liver mitochondrial ALDH from UChA and UChB rats: effect of inhibitors.

We have observed that blood acetaldehyde (AcH) levels after an ethanol dose were significantly higher in disulfiram-pre-treated UChA (low ethanol consumer) than in UChB (high ethanol consumer) rats. In order to explore these results further, we studied the effect of disulfiram (300 mg/kg i.p.) and chlorpropamide (80) mg/kg i.p.) pre-treatment on blood AcH levels after oral ethanol (60 mmol/kg) and on AcH metabolism by liver mitochondrial aldehyde(s) dehydrogenase(s) from UChA and UChB rats. AcH metabolism by liver mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) was studied by following AcH disappearance rate and the formation of NADH at 340 nm in the incubation medium. The results showed that chlorpropamide, like disulfiram, produced a higher blood AcH level consistent with a greater inhibition of the low-Km mitochondrial ALDH in the UChA rats than in the UChB rats. These drugs did not inhibit the high Km mitochondrial ALDH. Kinetic studies of mitochondrial ALDH show that low-Km mitochondrial ALDH from UChB rats exhibits a higher affinity for NAD than UChA rats. This observation could explain the different inhibition of ALDH by both drugs, assuming that the inhibitors reduce NAD availability, the rate limiting step in the mitochondrial ALDH oxidation.

Inhibition of rat hepatic mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase isozymes by repeated cyanamide administration: Pharmacokinetic‐pharmacodynamic relationships

The inhibition of rat hepatic mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) isozymes was studied in apparent steady-state conditions after repeated intra-peritoneal cyanamide administration. The low-Km mitochondrial ALDH isozyme was more susceptible to cyanamide-induced inhibition (DI50 = 0.104 mg kg-1) than the high-Km isozyme (DI50 = 8.52 mg kg-1), with almost complete inhibition occurring at 0.35 mg kg-1 total cyanamide administered for the low-Km isozyme. The relationships between plasma and liver cyanamide concentrations and the inhibition of high-Km ALDH were established by means of the sigmoid Imax model. The effect of dosing rate on the plasma concentration of cyanamide at apparent steady-state showed non-linearity, indicating that clearance or first-pass metabolism of cyanamide during its absorption after intraperitoneal administration did not remain constant throughout the range of doses studied.

Alcohol and Aldehyde Dehydrogenases in Human Esophagus: Comparison With the Stomach Enzyme Activities

Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) isoenzymes from surgical esophageal and gastric mucosa were compared by agarose isoelectric focusing. Two prominent ADH forms, designated mu 1 (equivalent to the recently reported mu-form) and mu 2, were expressed in all the 15 esophagus specimens studied, whereas only four of seven examined gastric specimens exhibited a weak to moderately strong mu 1-ADH activity band on the isoelectric focusing gels. pI values of the esophageal mu 1-ADH and mu 2-ADH, and the liver pi-ADH were determined to be 8.61, 8.13, and 8.90, respectively. mu-ADHs exhibited high Km for ethanol (12 mM) and low sensitivity to 4-methylpyrazole inhibition. ALDH3 (BB form) and ALDH1 were the major high- and low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase in the esophagus, respectively. The ADH and ALDH activities were determined at pH 7.5 to be 751 +/- 78 and 29.9 +/- 3.0 nmol/min/g tissue, respectively (measured at 500 mM ethanol or at 200 microM acetaldehyde; mean +/- SEM; N = 15). The esophageal ADH activity was approximately 4-fold and the ALDH activity 20% that of the stomach enzyme. Because the presence of high activity and high Km mu-ADHs as well as low-activity ALDH1 were found in human esophageal mucosa, it is suggested that there may exist an accumulation of intracellular acetaldehyde during alcohol ingestion. This reactive and toxic metabolite may be involved in the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced esophageal disorders.

A New Technique for Affixing Fresh Frozen Sections to Cold, Untreated Glass Slides and its Application to Histochemical Localization of Low-Km Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Activity, Inhibited by Cyanamide, in Mouse Liver.

A simple procedure, called the “cold acetone (-70°C) -dropping affixation technique”, for affixing fresh, frozen sections to cold, clean, untreated glass slides is described. A few drops of absolute acetone (-70°C) were dropped with a precooled pipet to the sections placed on the slides, and the acetone on the slides was absorbed immediately with a cold filter paper. The slides with the sections were left in a cryostat for approximately 30 min, so that the sections were affixed firmly to the slides. By this method we could prevent the diffusion of low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) from the sections.The localization of low-Km ALDH activity in the hepatic lobule of normal mice was studied histochemically with the nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) method. Reaction products, purplish-blue formazan showing the enzymatic activity, were found mainly in the centrilobular zone. Cyanamide (5 mM) inhibited the low-Km ALDH activity, whereas the high-Km ALDH activity was unaffected even by 10 mM cyanamide.

Regional distribution of low-Km mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase in the rat central nervous system.

To clarify the regional capacity of the brain to oxidize biogenic aldehydes and ethanol-derived acetaldehyde, a quantitative immunohistochemical study of the microregional and cellular expression of low Km mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (mALDH; EC 1.2.1.3) in the rat central nervous system was undertaken, using antiserum raised in rabbit against low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase purified from rat liver mitochondria. mALDH-specific immunoreactivity (IR) was observed to various extent in the majority of structures in all brain and spinal cord areas. Staining was strong in the extranuclear cytoplasm of neuronal and glial cell bodies but less pronounced in their processes and terminals, the conducting tracts, white matter and neuropile and in blood vessels. Immunostaining density was 2 to 3 times higher in neuronal perikarya as compared with neuropile. mALDH-positive neurons were found in all brain regions, being strongest in the inferior olive and hippocampus stratum pyramidale and weakest in substantia nigra. The percentage of morphologically identifiable ALDH-positive neurons ranged from 40% in the arcuate hypothalamic nucleus to 88% in the cerebellar Purkinje cells. A comparison of the heterogeneous expression of mALDH in various rat CNS regions and cells, as observed in the present study, with the corresponding previously published distributions of the potential acetaldehyde-producing enzymes ADH and cytochrome P450 2E1 indicates major differences, which may help in understanding potential acetaldehyde-mediated CNS effects of ethanol. Knowledge of the regional distribution of high-affinity aldehyde dehydrogenase should also throw light on the neurophysiological role of local regulation of the metabolism of biogenic aldehydes in the brain.

Distribution of alcohol dehydrogenase and the low Km form of aldehyde dehydrogenase in isolated perivenous and periportal hepatocytes in rats.

Hepatic damage induced by chronic alcohol abuse starts in the perivenous (PV) zone of the hepatic lobule. To explain this vulnerability in the PV zone, periportal (PP) and PV hepatocytes were isolated by digitonin-collagenase perfusion and the distributions of class I alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and the low-Km mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) were studied. ADH was measured by three approaches i.e., specific activity, immunoreactive enzyme content and ADH mRNA level. ALDH was determined by specific activity and immunoreactive enzyme content. When compared with PV hepatocytes, isolated PP cells exhibited higher lactate dehydrogenase (PP/PV = 1.3-1.5), higher alanine aminotransferase (PP/PV = 1.7-1.9), but lower glutamine synthase (PP/PV less than 0.01). By prelabeling the PP zone with acridine orange before digitonin-collagenase digestion, flow cytometry indicated that mainly the isolated PP hepatocytes exhibited fluorescence. ADH activities and ADH mRNA levels did not differ in PP and PV cells. With a polyclonal antibody directed specifically against class I ADH, ADH immunoreactive protein also did not differ in PP vs PV cells. By activity assay, the low Km ALDH activities were found to be lower in the PV hepatocytes (PP/PV = 1.3). This was confirmed by immunotransblot with anti-ALDH IgG (PP/PV = 1.6). the preferential damage of the PV zone produced by ethanol is not caused by differences of ADH distribution in liver but could be related partly to a decrease in the low-Km ALDH in the PV zone.

The intramucosal distribution of gastric alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase activity in rats.

Using qualitative and microquantitative histo-chemical techniques, alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase activity was studied in the gastric mucosa of male and female rats. Alcohol dehydrogenase was demonstrated by staining reactions with maximum activity in surface and neck cells and with clearly weaker activity also in parietal cells. Aldehyde dehydrogenase could be detected in surface and neck cells, and also to a comparable degree in the parietal cells. Quantitative analyses of microdissected samples yielded high values for alcohol dehydrogenase activity exclusively in the superficial part of the gastric mucosa, whereas low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase activity showed a decreasing gradient from the surface to the deeper parts of the mucosa. Sex differences could not be confirmed.

Effects of Cannabis and Tobacco on the Ezymes of Alcohol Metabolism in the Rat

The effects of cannabis and tobacco on the enzymes of ethanol metabolism were studied in the Wistar rat. The activities of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (AlDH) were measured in the liver and the brain, after treatment with an extract of cannabis resin, with an extract of tobacco leaves, or with nicotine. A condensate of cannabis resin extract was collected in a smoking machine, using a tobacco cigarette as the vehicle. Unsmoked or smoked cannabis extracts were dissolved in olive oil and were given i.p. (twice daily, for 7 days). In both cases, a similar dose level was used in terms of starting material (raw cannabis resin), estimated at about 100 mg/kg body weight. Control animals were treated either with olive oil, or with the same amount of smoked condensate obtained from a reference cigarette. Nicotine was dissolved in olive oil and it was given i.p. (10 micrograms/kg, twice daily for 7 days). An extract of unsmoked tobacco was dissolved in olive oil and was given with the same schedule, at a dose which was estimated to correspond to about 10 micrograms nicotine/kg b.w. All groups of animals received an additional i.p. injection on day 8, one hour before sacrifice. Our results showed that unsmoked cannabis inhibited the hepatic activities of the microchondrial AlDH (low-Km and high-Km), the hepatic low-Km cytosolic AlDH (p less than 0.001), and the low-Km mitochondrial AlDH of the brain (p less than 0.001). Administration of smoked cannabis to the animals inhibited the hepatic mitochondrial low-Km AlDH (p less than 0.001), but it did not influence the brain enzymes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Influence of liver disease on hepatic alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenases

The hepatic activities and the isoenzyme patterns of both alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase have been studied in 60 alcoholics with varying degrees of liver damage (from normal tissue or minimal changes to cirrhosis with alcoholic hepatitis) and in 24 nonalcoholics with chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis in order to ascertain their association with liver damage. In alcoholics both alcohol dehydrogenase and low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase activities decreased proportionally with the severity of liver disease. In contrast, in nonalcoholics, there was a reduction of low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase activity related to the severity of liver injury, but alcohol dehydrogenase was similar in patients with chronic hepatitis and nonalcoholic cirrhosis. There were no significant changes in total and high-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase activities among the different histologic groups studied, although the lowest activities were observed in patients with more severe liver injury. The prevalence of atypical alcohol dehydrogenase was similar in alcoholic (6.6%) and in nonalcoholic (8.3%) liver disease. All patients exhibited isoenzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase II, whereas isoenzyme I was not detected in 39.5% of the alcoholic patients and in 9.5% of those with nonalcoholic liver disease. The lack of aldehyde dehydrogenase I was observed in cases with the lowest enzymatic activities. These results suggest that the decrease of alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenase activities in alcoholics is not a primary defect and, therefore, their decrease is secondary to liver damage. It is speculated that the diminution of alcohol dehydrogenase, found particularly in alcoholics, could be due to centrilobular cell necrosis.

Activity of Alcohol Dehydrogenase and Aldehyde Dehydrogenase in Maternal Liver, Fetal Liver and Placenta of the Near-Term Pregnant Ewe

The activity of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) was determined in the near-term pregnant ewe. There was little ADH activity in fetal liver (4.4%) and placenta (0.2%) compared with maternal liver. Low KM (microM acetaldehyde) ALDH activity was similar in the three tissues. High KM (mM acetaldehyde) ALDH activity was less in fetal liver (57%) and placenta (16%) compared with maternal liver. These data and the pharmacokinetics of ethanol and its proximate metabolite, acetaldehyde, in the near-term pregnant ewe indicate that ethanol elimination from the maternal-fetal unit is regulated primarily by maternal hepatic ADH-catalyzed biotransformation of ethanol, and low KM ALDH activity in the fetal liver and placenta protects the fetus from exposure to ethanol-derived acetaldehyde, which is produced primarily in the maternal compartment.

Nutritional and gonadal effects on the intra-acinar profiles of low-Km and high-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase activity in rat liver.

Total and low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity was measured in 50-150 ng microdissected liver tissue samples of the entire sinusoidal length. High-Km ALDH activity was calculated by subtracting the low-Km ALDH values from the total ALDH activity. Enzyme activity was measured by a microchemical assay, using the oil-well technique with luminometric determination of NADH. The intra-acinar profiles of high-Km and low-Km ALDH activity could be demonstrated graphically for both male and female rats after 84 h of starvation, and after starvation and refeeding for 6 nights. In addition, the ALDH distribution patterns of juvenile, castrated, and castrated and testosterone-treated rats were determined. It could be demonstrated that starvation, and starvation followed by refeeding, lead to changes in enzyme activity which parallel the loss and regain of liver- and body-weight. The nutritional factors do not essentially alter the normal intra-acinar profiles. In juvenile rats, ALDH is lower by 30% in comparison with the controls, but sex-differences in the distribution profiles are not yet present. Castration has no effect on the amount of enzyme activity but the sex specific distribution profiles are less marked. The main effect of testosterone treatment is an elevation of low-Km ALDH in the perivenous zone. The characteristics of the intra-acinar profiles of high-Km and low-Km ALDH activity are discussed with respect to hepatic acetaldehyde oxidation and alcoholic liver damage.

アルコール代謝に及ぼすパンテチン投与の影響

When pantethine was orally administered to rats at a clinical dose (10mg/ kg of body weight), the blood and liver acetaldehyde levels were significantly lower than those in untreated rats. On the contrary, the ethanol levels were not changed. The low acetaldehyde concentration following the ethanol might be due to an accelerated oxidation of acetaldehyde by activation of low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), which was previously observed by pantethine-related metabolites formed in the liver.However, when pantethine was given intraperitoneally at a large dose (1.0g/ kg of body weight), elevation of blood and liver ethanol concentrations following ethanol loading to rats was rather inhibited. Ethanol absorption from the gastrointestinal tract might be decreased by pantethine-induced hypokinesia of the gastrointestine. When pantethine was administered intravenously (10mg/ kg of body weight) even at a clinical dose (20mg/ kg of body weight), acetaldehyde oxidation was severely inhibited. High acetaldehyde concentrations might be due to inhibition of low-Km ALDH by pantethine itself.

Inhibition of mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde oxidation by the glutathione-depleting agents diethylmaleate and phorone.

Experiments were carried out to study the effect of two commonly used glutathione-depleting agents, diethylmaleate and phorone, on the oxidation of acetaldehyde and the activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase. The oxidation of acetaldehyde by intact hepatocytes was inhibited when the cells were incubated with diethylmaleate. Washing and resuspending the cells in diethylmaleate-free medium afforded protection against the inhibition of acetaldehyde oxidation. The oxidation of acetaldehyde by isolated rat liver mitochondria as well as by disrupted mitochondria in the presence of excess NAD+ was inhibited by diethylmaleate or phorone, indicating inhibition of the low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase. In addition, diethylmaleate inhibited oxidation of acetaldehyde by the high-Km cytosolic aldehyde dehydrogenase. Significant accumulation of acetaldehyde occurred when ethanol was oxidized by hepatocytes in the presence, but not in the absence, of diethylmaleate. Thus, diethylmaleate blocks the oxidation of added or metabolically generated acetaldehyde, analogous to results with other inhibitors of the low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase such as cyanamide. These results suggest that caution should be used in interpreting the effects of diethylmaleate or phorone on metabolic reactions, especially those involving metabolism of aldehydes such as formaldehyde, because, in addition to depleting glutathione, these agents inhibit the low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase.

Accumulation of acetaldehyde in alcohol-sensitive Japanese: relation to ethanol and acetaldehyde oxidizing capacity.

The metabolism of ethanol and its oxidation product, acetaldehyde, was studied in Japanese volunteers. Subjects who responded by facial flushing and tachycardia were found to accumulate acetaldehyde during ethanol intoxication, in contrast to the near absence of blood acetaldehyde in nonflushing subjects. There were large individual variations in acetaldehyde accumulation observed in the former group, and this accumulation correlated well with the intensity of the physiological responses, but not with rate of ethanol elimination. Oral pretreatment with the alcohol dehydrogenase inhibitor, 4-methylpyrazole, reduced ethanol elimination by 15-25% and strongly suppressed acetaldehyde accumulation. However, here too there was no relation between individual ethanol elimination rate and acetaldehyde accumulation. Furthermore, the change in the blood lactate/pyruvate concentration ratio after ethanol intake was apparently unrelated to the degree of acetaldehyde accumulation. These results, combined with our previous observation of a strong negative correlation between increase in heart rate and activity of cytosolic aldehyde dehydrogenase in erythrocytes, suggest that in flushing Orientals lacking the low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase isozyme, the alternative cytosolic enzyme is responsible for acetaldehyde oxidation, and its activity probably determines the individual variation of acetaldehyde-mediated physiological responses.

Inhibition of hepatic aldehyde dehydrogenases in the rat by calcium carbimide (calcium cyanamide).

Oral administration of 7.0 mg/kg calcium carbimide (calcium cyanamide, CC) to the rat produced differential inhibition of hepatic aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) isozymes, as indicated by the time-course profiles of enzyme activity. The low-Km mitochondrial ALDH was most susceptible to inhibition following CC administration, with complete inhibition occurring at 0.5 h and return to control activity at 96 h. The low-Km cytosolic and high-Km mitochondrial, cytosolic, and microsomal ALDH isozymes were inhibited to a lesser degree and (or) for a shorter duration compared with the mitochondrial low-Km enzyme. The time course of carbimide, the hydrolytic product of CC, was determined in plasma following oral administration of 7.0 mg/kg CC to the rat. The maximum plasma carbimide concentration (102 ng/mL) occurred at 1 h and the apparent elimination half-life in plasma was 1.5 h. Carbimide was not measurable in the liver during the 6.5 h time interval when carbimide was present in the plasma. There were negative, linear correlations between plasma carbimide concentration and hepatic low-Km mitochondrial, low-Km cytosolic, and high-Km microsomal ALDH activities. In vitro studies demonstrated that carbimide, at concentrations obtained in plasma following oral CC administration, produced only 19% inhibition of low-Km mitochondrial ALDH and no inhibition of low-Km cytosolic and high-Km microsomal ALDH isozymes. These data demonstrate that carbimide, itself, is not primarily responsible for hepatic ALDH inhibition in vivo following oral CC administration. It would appear that carbimide must undergo metabolic conversion in vivo to inhibit hepatic ALDH enzymes, which is supported by the observation of no measurable carbimide in the liver when ALDH was maximally inhibited following oral CC administration.

Inhibition of aldehyde dehydrogenases in rat brain and liver by disulfiram and coprine.

Rats were treated with either coprine or disulfiram and the inhibition of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) in liver and brain mitochondria was measured with acetaldehyde, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde (DOPAL), and succinate semialdehyde at different concentrations. The inhibition pattern was similar for both inhibitors, but the degree of inhibition was lower with disulfiram. The ALDH activity both in the liver and the brain was inhibited at low concentrations of acetaldehyde and DOPAL, but not with succinate semialdehyde. The high-Km enzyme activities with acetaldehyde were not inhibited in liver and brain. The activity at high concentration of DOPAL was inhibited in the liver, but only slightly affected in the brain, suggesting the presence of a brain enzyme with an intermediate Km value for DOPAL. In contrast with the results observed in vivo, it was found that the high-Km activities with acetaldehyde and DOPAL in brain mitochondrial preparations were more sensitive to the inhibitors in vitro than the low-Km activities. Kinetic studies on ALDH preparations from brain and liver mitochondria suggested that acetaldehyde and DOPAL are metabolized by the same low-Km ALDH.