Substrate Report for: Phenacetin

Phenacetin was withdrawn from the market because it caused renal failure in some patients. Many reports indicated that the nephrotoxicity of phenacetin is associated with the hydrolyzed metabolite, p-phenetidine. Acetaminophen (APAP), the major metabolite of phenacetin, is also hydrolyzed to p-aminophenol, which is a nephrotoxicant. However, APAP is safely prescribed if used in normal therapeutic doses. This background prompted us to investigate the difference between phenacetin and APAP hydrolase activities in human liver. In this study, we found that phenacetin is efficiently hydrolyzed in human liver microsomes (HLM) [CL(int) 1.08 +/- 0.02 microl/(min . mg)], whereas APAP is hardly hydrolyzed [0.02 +/- 0.00 microl/(min . mg)]. To identify the esterase involved in their hydrolysis, the activities were measured using recombinant human carboxylesterase (CES) 1A1, CES2, and arylacetamide deacetylase (AADAC). Among these, AADAC showed a K(m) value (1.82 +/- 0.02 mM) similar to that of HLM (3.30 +/- 0.16 mM) and the highest activity [V(max) 6.03 +/- 0.14 nmol/(min . mg)]. In contrast, APAP was poorly hydrolyzed by the three esterases. The large contribution of AADAC to phenacetin hydrolysis was demonstrated by the prediction with a relative activity factor. In addition, the phenacetin hydrolase activity by AADAC was activated by flutamide (5-fold) as well as that in HLM (4-fold), and the activity in HLM was potently inhibited by eserine, a strong inhibitor of AADAC. In conclusion, we found that AADAC is the principal enzyme responsible for the phenacetin hydrolysis, and the difference of hydrolase activity between phenacetin and APAP is largely due to the substrate specificity of AADAC.

Microsomal and cytosolic phenacetin deacetylase activities were examined in human liver and kidneys. Kinetic properties of the activities were also studied in human liver microsomes. Phenacetin deacetylase activity was predominantly localized in the liver microsomal fraction. The specific activities of phenacetin deacetylation in liver cytosol and in kidney microsomes and cytosol were all less than 5% of that in liver microsomes. In human liver microsomes, Eadie-Hofstee plots for phenacetin deacetylation were monophasic, indicating a single-enzyme catalytic reaction. The Michaelis-Menten parameters, K(m) and V(max), for the deacetylation were 4.7 mM and 5.54 nmol/min/mg of protein, respectively. The intrinsic clearance, calculated as V(max)/K(m), was 1.18 microl/min/mg of protein. Although the organophosphate bis(4-nitrophenyl)phosphoric acid markedly inhibited the reaction in human liver microsomes, the activity has a tolerance to the treatment of phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, a serine hydrolase inhibitor. Prazosin, a peripheral alpha(1)-adrenergic antagonist, noncompetitively inhibited the phenacetin deacetylation with a K(i) value of 19.0 microM. Flutamide, a nonsteroidal androgen receptor antagonist, stimulated the activity by up to 349%. This increase was accompanied by a decrease in the K(m) value and no change in the V(max) value, resulting in an increase in the intrinsic clearance by up to 700% of the control. These results suggest that the phenacetin deacetylase localized in human liver microsomes has not only a catalytic site but also a negative and/or positive modulation site or sites.

Human arylacetamide deacetylase (AADAC) plays a role in the detoxification or activation of drugs and is sometimes involved in the incidence of toxicity by catalyzing hydrolysis reactions. AADAC prefers compounds with relatively small acyl groups, such as acetyl groups. Eslicarbazepine acetate, an antiepileptic drug, is a prodrug rapidly hydrolyzed to eslicarbazepine. We sought to clarify whether AADAC might be responsible for the hydrolysis of eslicarbazepine acetate. Eslicarbazepine acetate was efficiently hydrolyzed by human intestinal and liver microsomes and recombinant human AADAC. The hydrolase activities in human intestinal and liver microsomes were inhibited by epigallocatechin gallate, a specific inhibitor of AADAC, by 82% and 88% of the control, respectively. The hydrolase activities in liver microsomes from 25 human livers were significantly correlated (r = 0.87, P < 0.001) with AADAC protein levels, suggesting that the enzyme AADAC is responsible for the hydrolysis of eslicarbazepine acetate. The effects of genetic polymorphisms of AADAC on eslicarbazepine acetate hydrolysis were examined by using the constructed recombinant AADAC variants with T74A, V172I, R248S, V281I, N366K, or X400Q. AADAC variants with R248S or X400Q showed lower activity than wild type (5% or 21%, respectively), whereas those with V172I showed higher activity than wild type (174%). Similar tendencies were observed in the other 4 substrates of AADAC; that is, p-nitrophenyl acetate, ketoconazole, phenacetin, and rifampicin. Collectively, we found that eslicarbazepine acetate is specifically and efficiently hydrolyzed by human AADAC, and several AADAC polymorphic alleles would be a factor affecting the enzyme activity and drug response. Significance Statement This is the first study to clarify that AADAC is responsible for the activation of eslicarbazepine acetate, an antiepileptic prodrug, to eslicarbazepine, an active form, in the human liver and intestines. In addition, we found that several AADAC polymorphic alleles would be a factor affecting the enzyme activity and drug response.

Esterases catalyze the hydrolysis of therapeutic drugs containing esters or amides in their structures. Human carboxylesterase (CES) and arylacetamide deacetylase (AADAC) are the major enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of drugs in the liver. Characterization of the enzyme(s) responsible for drug metabolism is required in drug development and to realize optimal drug therapy. Because multiple enzymes may show a metabolic potency for a given compound, inhibition studies using chemical inhibitors are useful tools to determine the contribution of each enzyme in human tissue preparations. The purpose of this study was to find specific inhibitors for human CES1, CES2, and AADAC. We screened 542 chemicals for the inhibition potency toward hydrolase activities of p-nitrophenyl acetate by recombinant CES1, CES2, and AADAC. We found that digitonin and telmisartan specifically inhibited CES1 and CES2 enzyme activity, respectively. Vinblastine potently inhibited both AADAC and CES2, but no specific inhibitor of AADAC was found. The inhibitory potency and specificity of these compounds were also evaluated by monitoring the effects on hydrolase activity of probe compounds of each enzyme (CES1: lidocaine, CES2: CPT-11, AADAC: phenacetin) in human liver microsomes. Telmisartan and vinblastine strongly inhibited the hydrolysis of CPT-11 and/or phenacetin, but digitonin did not strongly inhibit the hydrolysis of lidocaine, indicating that the inhibitory potency of digitonin was different between recombinant CES1 and liver microsomes. Although we could not find a specific inhibitor of AADAC, the combined use of telmisartan and vinblastine could predict the responsibility of human AADAC to drug hydrolysis.

Phenacetin was withdrawn from the market because it caused renal failure in some patients. Many reports indicated that the nephrotoxicity of phenacetin is associated with the hydrolyzed metabolite, p-phenetidine. Acetaminophen (APAP), the major metabolite of phenacetin, is also hydrolyzed to p-aminophenol, which is a nephrotoxicant. However, APAP is safely prescribed if used in normal therapeutic doses. This background prompted us to investigate the difference between phenacetin and APAP hydrolase activities in human liver. In this study, we found that phenacetin is efficiently hydrolyzed in human liver microsomes (HLM) [CL(int) 1.08 +/- 0.02 microl/(min . mg)], whereas APAP is hardly hydrolyzed [0.02 +/- 0.00 microl/(min . mg)]. To identify the esterase involved in their hydrolysis, the activities were measured using recombinant human carboxylesterase (CES) 1A1, CES2, and arylacetamide deacetylase (AADAC). Among these, AADAC showed a K(m) value (1.82 +/- 0.02 mM) similar to that of HLM (3.30 +/- 0.16 mM) and the highest activity [V(max) 6.03 +/- 0.14 nmol/(min . mg)]. In contrast, APAP was poorly hydrolyzed by the three esterases. The large contribution of AADAC to phenacetin hydrolysis was demonstrated by the prediction with a relative activity factor. In addition, the phenacetin hydrolase activity by AADAC was activated by flutamide (5-fold) as well as that in HLM (4-fold), and the activity in HLM was potently inhibited by eserine, a strong inhibitor of AADAC. In conclusion, we found that AADAC is the principal enzyme responsible for the phenacetin hydrolysis, and the difference of hydrolase activity between phenacetin and APAP is largely due to the substrate specificity of AADAC.

Microsomal and cytosolic phenacetin deacetylase activities were examined in human liver and kidneys. Kinetic properties of the activities were also studied in human liver microsomes. Phenacetin deacetylase activity was predominantly localized in the liver microsomal fraction. The specific activities of phenacetin deacetylation in liver cytosol and in kidney microsomes and cytosol were all less than 5% of that in liver microsomes. In human liver microsomes, Eadie-Hofstee plots for phenacetin deacetylation were monophasic, indicating a single-enzyme catalytic reaction. The Michaelis-Menten parameters, K(m) and V(max), for the deacetylation were 4.7 mM and 5.54 nmol/min/mg of protein, respectively. The intrinsic clearance, calculated as V(max)/K(m), was 1.18 microl/min/mg of protein. Although the organophosphate bis(4-nitrophenyl)phosphoric acid markedly inhibited the reaction in human liver microsomes, the activity has a tolerance to the treatment of phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, a serine hydrolase inhibitor. Prazosin, a peripheral alpha(1)-adrenergic antagonist, noncompetitively inhibited the phenacetin deacetylation with a K(i) value of 19.0 microM. Flutamide, a nonsteroidal androgen receptor antagonist, stimulated the activity by up to 349%. This increase was accompanied by a decrease in the K(m) value and no change in the V(max) value, resulting in an increase in the intrinsic clearance by up to 700% of the control. These results suggest that the phenacetin deacetylase localized in human liver microsomes has not only a catalytic site but also a negative and/or positive modulation site or sites.