Inter-individual and inter-regional variations in enteric drug metabolizing enzyme activities: Results with cryopreserved human intestinal mucosal epithelia (CHIM) from the small intestines of 14 donors.

We have previously reported successful isolation and cryopreservation of human intestinal mucosa (CHIM) with retention of viability and drug metabolizing enzyme activities. Here we report the results of the quantification of drug metabolizing enzyme activities in CHIM from different regions of the small intestines from 14 individual donors. CHIM were isolated from the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum of 10 individuals, and from 10 consecutive 12-inch segments starting from the pyloric sphincter of human small intestines from four additional individuals. P450 and non-P450 drug metabolizing enzyme activities (CYP1A2, CYP2A6, CYP2B6, CYP2C8, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP2E1, CYP3A, UGT, SULT, FMO, MAO, AO, NAT1, and NAT2) were quantified via incubation with pathway-selective substrates. Quantifiable activities were observed for all pathways except for CYP2A6. Comparison of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum in 10 donors shows jejunum had higher activities for CYP2C9, CYP3A, UGT, SULT, MAO, and NAT1. Further definition of regional variations with CHIM from ten 12-inch segments of the proximal small intestine shows that the segments immediately after the first 12-inch segment (duodenum) had the highest activity for most of the drug metabolizing enzymes but with substantial differences among the four donors. Our overall results demonstrate that there are substantial individual differences in drug metabolizing enzymes and that jejunum, especially the regions immediately after the duodenum, had the highest drug metabolizing enzyme activities.

A Novel In vitro Experimental System for the Evaluation of Enteric Drug Metabolism: Cofactor-Supplemented Permeabilized Cryopreserved Human Enterocytes (MetMax™ Cryopreserved Human Enterocytes).

BACKGROUND: We report here an evaluation of a novel experimental system- cofactorsupplemented permeabilized cryopreserved human enterocytes (MetMax™ cryopreserved human enterocytes (MMHE), patent pending) for applications in the evaluation of enteric drug metabolism. A major advantage of MMHE over Conventional Cryopreserved Human Enterocytes (CCHE) is the simplification of the use procedures including storage at -80°C instead of in liquid nitrogen, and use of the cells immediately after thawing without a need for centrifugation and microscopic evaluation of cell density and viability and cell density adjustment. METHODS: In this study, we compared MMHE and CCHE in key phase 1 oxidation and phase 2 conjugation Drug Metabolism Enzyme (DME) activities that we recently reported for cryopreserved human enterocytes: CYP2C9 (diclofenac 4'- hydroxylation), CYP2C19 (s-mephenytoin hydroxylation), CYP3A4 (midazolam 1'-hydroxylation), CYP2J2 (astemizole O-demethylation), uridine 5'-diphosphoglucuronosyltransferase (UGT; 7-hydroxycoumarin glucuronidation), sulfotransferase (SULT; 7- hydroxycoumarin sulfation), N-acetyl transferase-1 (NAT-1; p-benzoic acid N-acetylation), and carboxyesterase- 2 (CES-2; hydrolysis of irinotecan to SN38). Both CCHE and MMHE were active in all the DME pathways evaluated, with specific activities of MMHE ranged from 142% (CYP2C9) to 1713% (UGT) of that for CCHE. ß-hydroxylation and testosterone 6. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the MMHE system represents a convenient and robust in vitro experimental system for the evaluation of enteric drug metabolism.

Ginkgo biloba and ovarian cancer prevention: epidemiological and biological evidence.

There is considerable interest in herbal therapies for cancer prevention but often with little scientific evidence to support their use. In this study, we examined epidemiological data regarding effects of commonly used herbal supplements on risk for ovarian cancer and sought supporting biological evidence. 4.2% of 721 controls compared to 1.6% of 668 cases regularly used Ginkgo biloba for an estimated relative risk (and 95% confidence interval) of 0.41 (0.20,0.84) (p=0.01); and the effect was most apparent in women with non-mucinous types of ovarian cancer, RR=0.33 (0.15,0.74) (p=0.007). In vitro experiments with normal and ovarian cancer cells showed that Ginkgo extract and its components, quercetin and ginkgolide A and B, have significant anti-proliferative effects ( approximately 40%) in serous ovarian cancer cells, but little effect in mucinous (RMUG-L) cells. For the ginkgolides, the inhibitory effect appeared to be cell cycle blockage at G0/G1 to S phase. This combined epidemiological and biological data provide supportive evidence for further studies of the chemopreventive or therapeutic effects of Ginkgo and ginkgolides on ovarian cancer.