Estimation of food portion sizes frequently consumed by children 3-6 years old in Japan.

No study has documented Japanese children's food portion sizes. Since this information is essential to establish valid measurement tools and effective education methods for dietary intake, we measured them using one-day, semi-weighed diet records (DRs) for 489 Japanese children aged 3-6 y. Each food's frequency of appearance on the DRs was counted. If a child consumed a certain food more than once per day, an average weight for that food was calculated and used in the portion size calculation as that child's representative value. In total, 67 food items were consumed by twenty or more children. We calculated the mean, standard deviation, median, minimum, and maximum portion size values for these food items. In addition to these 67 items, Chinese noodles and water were included in the analysis. The most frequently consumed food was well-milled rice (mean portion size for rice=79 g), which was consumed by 350 children, followed by soy sauce (4 g), eggs (26 g), and carrots (9 g). Among the five most frequently consumed foods, portion sizes of rice and pork but not milk, eggs, or carrots significantly increased with age, height, and weight. In multivariate linear regression analysis, however, the significant relationships between rice portion size and age were not observed. Regarding pork, only the relationship with height was significant. A sex difference was detected in the rice and milk portion sizes. Most of portion sizes observed here were apparently smaller than those reported among United Kingdom children. This study provides important basic information for the implementation of quantitative nutritional research and educational efforts for Japanese preschool children.

N-Glycosylation plays a role in protein folding of human UGT1A9.

UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) catalyze the glucuronidation of a variety of xeno/endobiotics. UGTs are type I membrane proteins of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) with a glycosylated luminal domain. In the present study, we investigated the role of N-glycosylation in the function of human UGT1A9. Mutation analysis at the potential N-glycosylation sites at residues 71, 292, and 344 (from asparagine to glutamine) revealed that all of them were glycosylated, but the extent of glycosylation and/or size of the glycan differed. In comparison with the wild-type, these mutants showed decreased enzyme activities in parallel with the extent of the band shift in Western blot analysis. To evaluate the role of glycosylation in the enzyme activity, we produced unglycosylated UGT1A9 by treating HEK293 cells transiently transfected with expression plasmid with tunicamycin. The unglycosylated UGT1A9 was almost inactive, which was not an indirect effect of ER stress. To the contrary, the deglycosylated UGT1A9, which was produced by the treatment with Endo H under the non-denaturing condition, showed the same enzyme kinetics as the control. These results suggest that the glycosylation that occurs during translation is important for the folding of UGT1A9. The thermal stability analysis of the mutated and deglycosylated UGT1A9 proteins supported the findings. In conclusion, we found that the N-glycosylation has an important role in the folding of UGT1A9.

CYP2A13 metabolizes the substrates of human CYP1A2, phenacetin, and theophylline.

Human cytochrome CYP2A13 shows overlapping substrate specificity with CYP2A6, catalyzing the metabolism of coumarin, nicotine, cotinine, and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone. Recently, it was found that CYP2A13 could catalyze the metabolic activations of 4-aminobiphenyl and aflatoxin B(1), which are known to be catalyzed by human CYP1A2. In the present study, we investigated the substrate specificity of CYP2A13. It was shown that CYP2A13 could catalyze ethoxyresorufin O-deethylation, methoxyresorufin O-demethylation, and phenacetin O-deethylation, which are used as marker activities for human CYP1A2. Although the intrinsic clearances (V(max)/K(m)) of the two former reactions by CYP2A13 were much lower than that of CYP1A2, the value of the last reaction by CYP2A13 was 2-fold higher than that of CYP1A2. Of particular interest was that CYP2A13 has higher affinity toward phenacetin than CYP1A2. In contrast, CYP2A6 hardly catalyzed these reactions, although the amino acid identity with CYP2A13 is as high as 93.5%. Furthermore, we found that CYP2A13 can catalyze theophylline 8-hydroxylation and 3-demethylation, which are known to be mainly catalyzed by human CYP1A2, although the intrinsic clearances were approximately one-tenth that of CYP1A2. CYP2A13 would not contribute to the systemic clearance of these drugs because CYP2A13 is hardly expressed in human liver. However, it may play a role in metabolism in local tissues such as lung or trachea. In conclusion, the results of the present study could extend our understanding of the substrate specificity of CYP2A13.

CYP2A13 expressed in human bladder metabolically activates 4-aminobiphenyl.

Cigarette smoking is the predominant risk factor for bladder cancer. Aromatic amines such as 4-aminobiphenyl (ABP) is the major carcinogens found in tobacco smoke. Although it is generally accepted that ABP is metabolically activated via N-hydroxylation by CYP1A2 in human liver, previous studies using Cyp1a2-null mice indicated the involvement of other enzyme(s). Here we found that CYP2A13 can metabolically activate ABP to show genotoxicity by Umu assay. The K(m) and V(max) values for ABP N-hydroxylation by recombinant CYP2A13 in E. coli were 38.5 +/- 0.6 microM and 7.8 +/- 0.0 pmol/min/pmol CYP, respectively. The K(m) and V(max) values by recombinant CYP1A2 were 9.9 +/- 0.9 microM and 39.6 +/- 0.9 pmol/min/pmol CYP, respectively, showing 20-fold higher intrinsic clearance than CYP2A13. In human bladder, CYP2A13 mRNA, but not CYP1A2, is expressed at a relatively high level. Human bladder microsomes showed ABP N-hydroxylase activity (K(m) = 34.9 +/- 4.7 microM and V(max) = 57.5 +/- 1.9 pmol/min/mg protein), although the intrinsic clearance was 5-fold lower than that in human liver microsomes (K(m) = 33.2 +/- 2.0 microM and V(max) = 293.9 +/- 5.8 pmol/min/mg protein). The activity in human bladder microsomes was prominently inhibited by 8-methoxypsoralen, but not by fluvoxamine, anti-CYP1A2 or anti-CYP2A6 antibodies. CYP2S1, which is expressed in human bladder and has relatively high amino acid identities with CYP2As, did not show detectable ABP N-hydroxylase activity. In conclusion, although the enzyme responsible for ABP N-hydroxylation in human bladder microsomes could not be determined, we found that CYP2A13 metabolically activates ABP.

Comprehensive evaluation of variability in nicotine metabolism and CYP2A6 polymorphic alleles in four ethnic populations.

Human cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2A6 metabolizes nicotine to cotinine and is a possible modulator of nicotine addiction. Quantitative and qualitative differences in nicotine addiction have been observed between ethnic groups. However, there are few data on the ethnic influences of the CYP2A6-nicotine metabolism relationship, particularly with regard to black subjects. We determined the nicotine metabolism and CYP2A6 genotype in 176 white subjects and 160 black subjects, comparing them with our previous data from 209 Korean subjects and 92 Japanese subjects. Large interindividual differences were observed in the cotinine/nicotine ratios in plasma calculated as an index of nicotine metabolism in white subjects (range, 0.6-36.5) and in black subjects (range, 0.9-30.4). No ethnic difference in the metabolic ratio was observed among white subjects (mean, 7.2 +/- 5.0), black subjects (mean, 7.1 +/- 4.7), and Korean subjects (mean, 8.7 +/- 11.9), whereas Japanese subjects showed a significantly (P < .005) lower metabolic ratio (mean, 3.8 +/- 3.1) compared with the other populations. Women showed significantly (P < .05) higher metabolic ratios than men in the black population (8.0 +/- 5.3 versus 6.0 +/- 3.7). Obvious ethnic differences in the CYP2A6 alleles were observed among these 4 populations. The combined frequencies of the alleles lacking or showing reduced enzymatic activity (CYP2A6*2, CYP2A6*4, CYP2A6*5, CYP2A6*7, CYP2A6*9, CYP2A6*10, CYP2A6*11, CYP2A6*17, CYP2A6*19, and CYP2A6*20) were 9.1%, 21.9%, 42.9%, and 50.5% in white, black, Korean, and Japanese subjects, respectively. These CYP2A6 alleles were associated with reduced nicotine metabolism. Among the homozygotes of CYP2A6*1, interindividual and ethnic differences in the metabolic ratio were still observed. Thus some factors other than genetic ones might also contribute to the interindividual and ethnic differences. This comprehensive study of 4 populations extends our understanding of nicotine metabolism and the impact of genetic polymorphisms of the CYP2A6 gene.

CYP2A6 AND CYP2B6 are involved in nornicotine formation from nicotine in humans: interindividual differences in these contributions.

Nornicotine is an N-demethylated metabolite of nicotine. In the present study, human cytochrome P450 (P450) isoform(s) involved in nicotine N-demethylation were identified. The Eadie-Hofstee plot of nicotine N-demethylation in human liver microsomes was biphasic with high-affinity (apparent K(m) = 173 +/- 70 microM, V(max) = 57 +/- 17 pmol/min/mg) and low-affinity (apparent K(m) = 619 +/- 68 microM, V(max) = 137 +/- 6 pmol/min/mg) components. Among 13 recombinant human P450s expressed in baculovirus-infected insect cells (Supersomes), CYP2B6 exhibited the highest nicotine N-demethylase activity, followed by CYP2A6. The apparent K(m) values of CYP2A6 (49 +/- 12 microM) and CYP2B6 (550 +/- 46 microM) were close to those of high- and low-affinity components in human liver microsomes, respectively. The intrinsic clearances of CYP2A6 and CYP2B6 Supersomes were 5.1 and 12.5 nl/min/pmol P450, respectively. In addition, the intrinsic clearance of CYP2A13 expressed in Escherichia coli (44.9 nl/min/pmol P450) was higher than that of CYP2A6 expressed in E. coli (2.6 nl/min/pmol P450). Since CYP2A13 is hardly expressed in human livers, the contribution of CYP2A13 to the nicotine N-demethylation in human liver microsomes would be negligible. The nicotine N-demethylase activity in microsomes from 15 human livers at 20 microM nicotine was significantly correlated with the CYP2A6 contents (r = 0.578, p < 0.05), coumarin 7-hydroxylase activity (r = 0.802, p < 0.001), and S-mephenytoin N-demethylase activity (r = 0.694, p < 0.005). The nicotine N-demethylase activity at 100 microM nicotine was significantly correlated with the CYP2B6 contents (r = 0.677, p < 0.05) and S-mephenytoin N-demethylase activities (r = 0.740, p < 0.005). These results as well as the inhibition analyses suggested that CYP2A6 and CYP2B6 would significantly contribute to the nicotine N-demethylation at low and high substrate concentrations, respectively. The contributions of CYP2A6 and CYP2B6 would be dependent on the expression levels of these isoforms in any human liver.

Characterization of novel CYP2A6 polymorphic alleles (CYP2A6*18 and CYP2A6*19) that affect enzymatic activity.

Genetic polymorphisms of CYP2A6 gene are known as a causal factor of the interindividual differences in nicotine metabolism. We found three novel CYP2A6 alleles. The CYP2A6(*)18A allele has a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of A5668T (A1175T, Y392F) in exon 8. The CYP2A6(*)18B allele has synonymous SNPs of G51A (G51A), T5684C (T1191C), and T5702C (T1209C) in addition to A5668T (A1175T, Y392F). The CYP2A6(*)19 allele has the SNPs of A5668T (A1175T, Y392F), T6354C (intron 8), and T6558C (T1412C, I471T) as well as the conversion with the CYP2A7 sequence in the 3'-untranslated region, in which the latter two changes correspond to CYP2A6(*)7. Ethnic differences in the frequencies of these alleles were observed between whites, African-Americans, Japanese, and Koreans. Wild or variant CYP2A6 (CYP2A6(*)18, CYP2A6(*)19, and CYP2A6(*)7) were expressed in Escherichia coli. For coumarin 7-hydroxylation and 5-fluorouracil formation from tegafur, the K(m) values were increased, and V(max) values were decreased in CYP2A6.18 compared with those in CYP2A6.1, resulting in decreased clearance to 50 and 35% of that of the wild type, respectively. The K(m) and V(max) values for nicotine C-oxidation were both increased, resulting in no change of clearance. In CYP2A6.19, the effects on the coumarin 7-hydroxylation and 5-fluorouracil formation (increased K(m) and decreased V(max)) were prominent, resulting in decreased clearance to 8% of those of the wild type. For nicotine C-oxidation, the K(m) and V(max) values were both decreased, resulting in decreased clearance to 30% of that of the wild type. The changes of the kinetics in CYP2A6.19 were similar to those in CYP2A6.7. In vivo nicotine metabolism was evaluated in whites (n = 56) and Koreans (n = 40). Although the CYP2A6(*)18 and CYP2A6(*)19 alleles were found only heterozygously, a subject with CYP2A6(*)7/CYP2A6(*)19 showed a lower cotinine/nicotine ratio of the plasma concentration compared with homozygotes of the CYP2A6(*)1A, supporting the in vitro results that the CYP2A6(*)19 allele leads to decreased enzymatic activity.

Increased Deoxycytidine Kinase mRNA Level After Treatment with Interleukin-3.

Pretreatment of IL-3 to Kasumi-1 human acute myeloid leukemia cells enhanced 1-B-D-arabinofuranosyl cytosine (ara-C) cytotoxicity 1.2. to 1.4-fold (median 1.3). To clarify the mechanism of interleukin-3 (IL-3) on ara-C cytotoxicity, we investigated the level of deoxycytidine kinase mRNA with the competitive polymerase chain reaction method and enzyme activities, the incorporation of [(3)H] ara-C into DNA and intracellular ara-cytidine triphosphate (CTP) levels with high-performance liquid chromatography and analyzed cell cycles. The level of deoxycytidine kinase mRNA showed a fourfold increase (88.3 plus minus 4.33 amol &mgr;g of total RNA) at 3 days after treatment with IL-3 compared to control (20.3 plus minus 4.33 amol &mgr;g). After IL-3 treatment, ara-C incorporation into the DNA was increased to 1.33 to 1.83-fold (median, 1.73-fold). The G0/G1 late-phase and S-phase percentages of cells were increased from 28.99 to 78.73% in the IL-3 treatment group as compared to control. These results indicate that IL-3 pretreatment increases the level of deoxycytidine kinase mRNA and ara-C incorporation into the DNA and also increases ratios of G0/G1 late-phase and S-phase subsequent to an enhancement of ara-C cytotoxicity against leukemia cells.