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Estragole is a known hepatocarcinogen in rodents at high doses following metabolic conversion to the DNA-reactive metabolite 1'-sulfooxyestragole. The aim of the present study was to model possible levels of DNA adduct formation in (individual) humans upon exposure to estragole. This was done by extending a previously defined PBK model for estragole in humans to include (i) new data on interindividual variation in the kinetics for the major PBK model parameters influencing the formation of 1'-sulfooxyestragole, (ii) an equation describing the relationship between 1'-sulfooxyestragole and DNA adduct formation, (iii) Monte Carlo modeling to simulate interindividual human variation in DNA adduct formation in the population, and (iv) a comparison of the predictions made to human data on DNA adduct formation for the related alkenylbenzene methyleugenol. Adequate model predictions could be made, with the predicted DNA adduct levels at the estimated daily intake of estragole of 0.01 mg/kg bw ranging between 1.6 and 8.8 adducts in 10(8) nucleotides (nts) (50th and 99th percentiles, respectively). This is somewhat lower than values reported in the literature for the related alkenylbenzene methyleugenol in surgical human liver samples. The predicted levels seem to be below DNA adduct levels that are linked with tumor formation by alkenylbenzenes in rodents, which were estimated to amount to 188-500 adducts per 10(8) nts at the BMD10 values of estragole and methyleugenol. Although this does not seem to point to a significant health concern for human dietary exposure, drawing firm conclusions may have to await further validation of the model's predictions. more...

To study the effect of metabolic conjugation of flavonoids on the potential to inhibit protein kinase activity, the inhibitory effects of the dietary flavonol kaempferol and its major plasma conjugate kaempferol-3-O-glucuronide on protein kinases were studied. To this end, the inhibition of the phosphorylation activity of recombinant protein kinase A (PKA) and of cell lysate from the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2 on 141 putative serine/threonine phosphorylation sites derived from human proteins was assessed. Glucuronidation reduced the inhibitory potency of kaempferol on the phosphorylation activity of PKA and HepG2 lysate on average about 16 and 3.5 times, respectively, but did not appear to affect the target selectivity for kinases present in the lysate. The data demonstrate that, upon glucuronidation, kaempferol retains part of its intrinsic kinase inhibition potential, which implies that K3G does not necessarily need to be deconjugated to the aglycone for a potential inhibitory effect on protein kinases. more...

Non-prenylated isoflavone aglycones are known to have phyto-estrogenic properties and act as agonistic ligands on ERα and ERβ due to their structural resemblance to 17β-estradiol (E2). Genistein and daidzein are the two main dietary isoflavones; upon uptake they are extensively metabolized and exist nearly exclusively as their conjugated forms in biological fluids. Little is known about the effect of conjugation on the intrinsic estrogenic activities of these isoflavones. To characterize and compare the intrinsic estrogenic activities of genistein and daidzein, and their respective 7-O-glucuronide metabolites a cell-free assay system was employed that determines the ligand-induced changes in ERα- and ERβ-ligand binding domain (LBD) interactions with 154 different binding motifs derived from 66 different nuclear receptor coregulators. The glucuronides were 8 to 4400 times less potent than their respective aglycones to modulate ERα-LBD and ERβ-LBD-coregulator interactions. Glucuronidation changed the preferential activation of genistein from ERβ-LBD to ERα-LBD and further increased the slightly preferential activation of daidzein for ERα-LBD. The tested isoflavone compounds were less potent than E2 (around 5 to 1580 times for the aglycones) but modulated the LBD-coregulator interactions in a manner similar to E2. Our results show that genistein and daidzein remain agonistic ligands of ERα-LBD and ERβ-LBD in their conjugated form with a higher relative preference for ERα-LBD than the corresponding aglycones. This shift in receptor preference is of special interest as the preferential activation of ERβ is considered one of the possible modes of action underlying the supposed beneficial instead of adverse health effects of isoflavones., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.) more...

The consumption of dietary flavonoids has been associated with a variety of health benefits, including effects mediated by the activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-γ). Flavonoids are extensively metabolized during and after uptake and there is little known on the biological effects of these conjugated metabolites of flavonoids that are found in plasma. To investigate the effect of glucuronidation on the ability of flavonoids to activate PPAR-γ we studied and compared the activity of quercetin, kaempferol and their relevant plasma conjugates quercetin-3-O-glucuronide (Q3G) and kaempferol-3-O-glucuronide (K3G) on different PPAR-γ related endpoints. The flavonoid aglycones increased PPAR-γ mediated gene expression in a stably transfected reporter gene cell line and glucuronidation diminished their effect. To study the intrinsic activity of the test compounds to activate PPAR-γ we used a novel microarray technique to study ligand induced ligand binding domain (LBD) - nuclear receptor coregulator interactions. In this cell-free system we demonstrate that, unlike the known PPAR-γ agonist rosiglitazone, neither the flavonoid aglycones nor the conjugates are agonistic ligands of the receptor. The increases in reporter gene expression in the reporter cells were accompanied by increased PPAR-γ receptor-mRNA expression and quercetin synergistically increased the effect of rosiglitazone in the reporter gene assay. It is concluded that flavonoids affect PPAR-γ mediated gene transcription by a mode of action different from agonist binding. Increases in PPAR-γ receptor mRNA expression and synergistic effects with endogenous PPAR-γ agonists may play a role in this alternative mode of action. Glucuronidation reduced the activity of the flavonoid aglycones. more...

The present study aims at predicting the level of formation of the ultimate carcinogenic metabolite of methyleugenol, 1'-sulfooxymethyleugenol, in the human population by taking variability in key bioactivation and detoxification reactions into account using Monte Carlo simulations. Depending on the metabolic route, variation was simulated based on kinetic constants obtained from incubations with a range of individual human liver fractions or by combining kinetic constants obtained for specific isoenzymes with literature reported human variation in the activity of these enzymes. The results of the study indicate that formation of 1'-sulfooxymethyleugenol is predominantly affected by variation in i) P450 1A2-catalyzed bioactivation of methyleugenol to 1'-hydroxymethyleugenol, ii) P450 2B6-catalyzed epoxidation of methyleugenol, iii) the apparent kinetic constants for oxidation of 1'-hydroxymethyleugenol, and iv) the apparent kinetic constants for sulfation of 1'-hydroxymethyleugenol. Based on the Monte Carlo simulations a so-called chemical-specific adjustment factor (CSAF) for intraspecies variation could be derived by dividing different percentiles by the 50th percentile of the predicted population distribution for 1'-sulfooxymethyleugenol formation. The obtained CSAF value at the 90th percentile was 3.2, indicating that the default uncertainty factor of 3.16 for human variability in kinetics may adequately cover the variation within 90% of the population. Covering 99% of the population requires a larger uncertainty factor of 6.4. In conclusion, the results showed that adequate predictions on interindividual human variation can be made with Monte Carlo-based PBK modeling. For methyleugenol this variation was observed to be in line with the default variation generally assumed in risk assessment., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.) more...

Safrole, present in mace and its essential oils, causes liver tumors in rodents at high dose levels due to formation of a DNA reactive 1'-sulfooxysafrole. The present study identifies malabaricone C as a mace constituent able to inhibit safrole DNA adduct formation at the level of sulfotransferase mediated bioactivation. This inhibition was incorporated into physiologically based biokinetic rat and human models. Dosing safrole at 50mg/kg body weight and malabaricone C-containing mace extract at a ratio reflecting the relative presence in mace, and assuming 100% or 1% uptake of malabaricone C-containing mace extract, the model predicted inhibition of 1'-sulfooxysafrole formation for rats and humans by 90% and 100% or 61% and 91%, respectively. To validate the model, mace extract and safrole were co-administered orally to Sprague-Dawley rats. LC-ECI-MS/MS based quantification of DNA adduct levels revealed a significant (p<0.01) 55% reduction of safrole DNA adduct formation by malabaricone C-containing mace extract in the liver of rats exposed to safrole. The data obtained were used to perform a refined risk assessment of safrole. Overall, the results suggest a lower tumor incidence when safrole would be tested within a relevant food matrix containing sulfotransferase inhibitors compared to dosing pure safrole., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.) more...

Recent studies have demonstrated a direct link between increased exogenous CHO oxidation (CHOexog) and enhanced performance. The limiting factor for CHOexog appears to be at the level of intestinal transporters, with sodium/glucose cotransporter 1 (SGLT1) and glucose transporter Type 5 (GLUT5) responsible for glucose and fructose transport, respectively. Studies in animal models have shown that SGLT1 and intestinal glucose uptake are up-regulated by high carbohydrate diets or noncaloric sweeteners. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of preexercise ingestion of noncaloric sweeteners on CHOexog during exercise in athletes. In a randomized, crossover, double-blind fashion twenty-three healthy male cyclists (age = 29 ± 7 yrs, mass = 73.6 ± 7.4 kg, VO2peak = 68.3 ± 9.3 ml/kg/min) consumed 8 × 50 ml doses of either placebo (CON) or 1mM sucralose (SUCRA) every 15 min starting 120 min before the onset of exercise. This was followed by 2h of cycling at 48.5 ± 8.6% of VO2peak with continual ingestion of a maltodextrin drink (1.2 g/min; 828 ml/ hr). Average CHOexog during the first hour of exercise did not differ between SUCRA and CON conditions (0.226 ± 0.081 g/min vs. 0.212 ± 0.076 g/min, Δ =0.015 g/min, 95% CI -0.008 g/min, 0.038 g/min, p = .178). Blood glucose, plasma insulin and lactate, CHO and fat substrate utilization, heart rate, ratings of perceived exertion, and gastrointestinal symptoms did not differ between conditions. Our data suggest that consumption of noncaloric sweeteners in the immediate period before exercise does not lead to a significant increase in CHOexog during exercise. more...

Scope: The present work investigates whether the previous observation that the basil flavonoid nevadensin is able to inhibit sulfotransferase (SULT)-mediated estragole DNA adduct formation in primary rat hepatocytes could be validated in vivo., Methods and Results: Estragole and nevadensin were co-administered orally to Sprague-Dawley rats, at a ratio reflecting their presence in basil. Moreover, previously developed physiologically based biokinetic (PBBK) models to study this inhibition in rat and in human liver were refined by including a submodel describing nevadensin kinetics. Nevadensin resulted in a significant 36% reduction in the levels of estragole DNA adducts formed in the liver of rats. The refined PBBK model predicts the formation of estragole DNA adducts in the liver of rat with less than twofold difference compared to in vivo data and suggests more potent inhibition in the liver of human compared to rat due to less efficient metabolism of nevadensin in human liver and intestine., Conclusion: Given the role of the SULT-mediated DNA adduct formation in the hepatocarcinogenicity of estragole, the results of the present study suggest that the likelihood of bioactivation and subsequent adverse effects in rodent bioassays may be lower when estragole is dosed with nevadensin compared to dosing of pure estragole., (© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.) more...

Methyleugenol (ME) occurs naturally in a variety of spices, herbs, including basil, and their essential oils. ME induces hepatomas in rodent bioassays following its conversion to a DNA reactive metabolite. In the present study, the basil constituent nevadensin was shown to be able to inhibit SULT-mediated DNA adduct formation in HepG2 cells exposed to the proximate carcinogen 1'-hydroxymethyleugenol in the presence of nevadensin. To investigate possible in vivo implications of SULT inhibition by nevadensin on ME bioactivation, the rat physiologically based kinetic (PBK) model developed in our previous work to describe the dose-dependent bioactivation and detoxification of ME in male rat was combined with the recently developed PBK model describing the dose-dependent kinetics of nevadensin in male rat. The resulting binary ME-nevadensin PBK model was used to predict the possible nevadensin mediated reduction in ME DNA adduct formation and resulting carcinogenicity at the doses of ME used by the NTP carcinogenicity study. Using these data an updated risk assessment using the Margin of Exposure (MOE) approach was performed. The results obtained point at a potential reduction of the cancer risk when rodents are orally exposed to ME within a relevant food matrix containing SULT inhibitors compared to exposure to pure ME., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.) more...

Estragole is a naturally occurring food-borne genotoxic compound found in a variety of food sources, including spices and herbs. This results in human exposure to estragole via the regular diet. The objective of this study was to quantify the dose-dependent estragole-DNA adduct formation in rat liver and the urinary excretion of 1'-hydroxyestragole glucuronide in order to validate our recently developed physiologically based biodynamic (PBBD) model. Groups of male outbred Sprague Dawley rats (n = 10, per group) were administered estragole once by oral gavage at dose levels of 0 (vehicle control), 5, 30, 75, 150, and 300mg estragole/kg bw and sacrificed after 48h. Liver, kidney and lungs were analysed for DNA adducts by LC-MS/MS. Results obtained revealed a dose-dependent increase in DNA adduct formation in the liver. In lungs and kidneys DNA adducts were detected at lower levels than in the liver confirming the occurrence of DNA adducts preferably in the target organ, the liver. The results obtained showed that the PBBD model predictions for both urinary excretion of 1'-hydroxyestragole glucuronide and the guanosine adduct formation in the liver were comparable within less than an order of magnitude to the values actually observed in vivo. The PBBD model was refined using liver zonation to investigate whether its predictive potential could be further improved. The results obtained provide the first data set available on estragole-DNA adduct formation in rats and confirm their occurrence in metabolically active tissues, i.e. liver, lung and kidney, while the significantly higher levels found in liver are in accordance with the liver as the target organ for carcinogenicity. This opens the way towards future modelling of dose-dependent estragole liver DNA adduct formation in human. more...

Diets rich in flavonoids are associated with various positive health effects. Most in vitro research conducted to elucidate the modes of action of flavonoids uses flavonoid aglycones, but not their circulating conjugated metabolites. Conjugation alters the physico-chemical properties of flavonoids and it is widely assumed that this can affect their biological activity. This article gives a state-of-the-art overview of scientific literature reporting on the effect of metabolic conjugation on the biological activity of flavonoids. The biological activity of flavonoid aglycones is compared to that of their conjugates for a broad range of endpoints. Even though there is only limited literature available, it is shown that contrary to common belief, conjugation does not always decrease the biological activity of flavonoids. There are also endpoints which are unaffected by conjugation, and endpoints on which the conjugates have a higher or inverse activity when compared to the aglycone. The effects of conjugation can differ depending on the type and position of conjugation, the flavonoid concentration, the endpoint studied and the assay system used so that no general rules can be deducted. It is concluded that further studies on the effects of conjugation have to be done on a case-by-case basis, and characterization of the stability and metabolic fate of the flavonoids in the assay system under consideration is needed to avoid false positive or false negative outcomes. more...

The alkenylbenzene estragole is a constituent of several herbs and spices. It induces hepatomas in rodents at high doses following bioactivation by cytochrome P450s and sulfotransferases (SULTs) giving rise to the ultimate carcinogenic metabolite 1'-sulfooxyestragole which forms DNA adducts. Methanolic extracts from different alkenylbenzene-containing herbs and spices were able to inhibit SULT activity. Flavonoids including quercetin, kaempferol, myricetin, apigenin, and nevadensin were the major constituents responsible for this inhibition with Ki values in the nano to micromolar range. In human HepG2 cells exposed to the proximate carcinogen 1'-hydroxyestragole, the various flavonoids were able to inhibit estragole DNA adduct formation and shift metabolism in favor of glucuronidation which is a detoxification pathway for 1'-hydroxyestragole. In a next step, the kinetics for SULT inhibition were incorporated in physiologically based biokinetic (PBBK) models for estragole in rat and human to predict the effect of co-exposure to estragole and (mixtures of) the different flavonoids on the bioactivation in vivo. The PBBK-model-based predictions indicate that the reduction of estragole bioactivation in rat and human by co-administration of the flavonoids is dependent on whether the intracellular liver concentrations of the flavonoids can reach their Ki values. It is expected that this is most easily achieved for nevadensin which has a Ki value in the nanomolar range and is, due to its methyl ation, more metabolically stable than the other flavonoids. more...

A physiologically based biokinetic (PBBK) model for the alkenylbenzene safrole in humans was developed based on in vitro- and in silico-derived kinetic parameters. With the model obtained, the time- and dose-dependent formation of the proximate and ultimate carcinogenic metabolites, 1-hydroxysafrole and 1-sulfooxysafrole in human liver were estimated and compared with previously predicted levels of these metabolites in rat liver. In addition, Monte Carlo simulations were performed to predict interindividual variation in the formation of these metabolites in the overall population. For the evaluation of the model performance, a comparison was made between the predicted total amount of urinary metabolites of safrole and the reported total levels of metabolites in the urine of humans exposed to safrole, which adequately matched. The model results revealed no dose-dependent shifts in safrole metabolism and no relative increase in bioactivation at dose levels up to 100mg/kg body weight/day. Species differences were mainly observed in the detoxification pathways of 1-hydroxysafrole, with the formation of 1-oxosafrole being a main detoxification pathway of 1-hydroxysafrole in humans but a minor pathway in rats, and glucuronidation of 1-hydroxysafrole being less important in humans than in rats. The formation of 1-sulfooxysafrole was predicted to vary 4- to 17-fold in the population (fold difference between the 95th and median, and 95th and 5th percentile, respectively), with the median being three to five times higher in human than in rat liver. Comparison of the PBBK results for safrole with those previously obtained for the related alkenylbenzenes estragole and methyleugenol revealed that differences in 1-sulfooxy metabolite formation are limited, being only twofold to fivefold. more...

This study defines a physiologically based kinetic (PBK) model for methyleugenol (ME) in human based on in vitro and in silico derived parameters. With the model obtained, bioactivation and detoxification of methyleugenol (ME) at different doses levels could be investigated. The outcomes of the current model were compared with those of a previously developed PBK model for methyleugenol (ME) in male rat. The results obtained reveal that formation of 1'-hydroxymethyleugenol glucuronide (1'HMEG), a major metabolic pathway in male rat liver, appears to represent a minor metabolic pathway in human liver whereas in human liver a significantly higher formation of 1'-oxomethyleugenol (1'OME) compared with male rat liver is observed. Furthermore, formation of 1'-sulfooxymethyleugenol (1'HMES), which readily undergoes desulfonation to a reactive carbonium ion (CA) that can form DNA or protein adducts (DA), is predicted to be the same in the liver of both human and male rat at oral doses of 0.0034 and 300 mg/kg bw. Altogether despite a significant difference in especially the metabolic pathways of the proximate carcinogenic metabolite 1'-hydroxymethyleugenol (1'HME) between human and male rat, the influence of species differences on the ultimate overall bioactivation of methyleugenol (ME) to 1'-sulfooxymethyleugenol (1'HMES) appears to be negligible. Moreover, the PBK model predicted the formation of 1'-sulfooxymethyleugenol (1'HMES) in the liver of human and rat to be linear from doses as high as the benchmark dose (BMD10) down to as low as the virtual safe dose (VSD). This study shows that kinetic data do not provide a reason to argue against linear extrapolation from the rat tumor data to the human situation., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.) more...

The citrus flavonoid hesperetin (4'-methoxy-3',5,7-trihydroxyflavanone) is the aglycone of hesperidin, the major flavonoid present in sweet oranges. Hesperetin 7-O-glucuronide (H7G) and hesperetin 3'-O-glucuronide (H3'G) are the two most abundant metabolites of hesperetin in vivo. In this study, their interaction with specific ABC transporters, believed to play a role in the disposition and bioavailability of hesperetin, was studied using Sf9 membranes from cells overexpressing human BCRP (ABCG2), MRP2 (ABCC2) and MRP3 (ABCC3). Both H7G and H3'G were tested for their potential to activate and inhibit ATPase activity, and to inhibit vesicular transport by these transporters. Both H7G and H3'G demonstrated interaction with all tested ABC transporters, especially with BCRP and MRP3. An interesting difference between H7G and H3'G was seen with respect to the interaction with BCRP: H7G stimulated the ATPase activity of BCRP up to 76% of the maximal effect generated by the reference activator sulfasalazine, with an EC(50) of 0.45 µM, suggesting that H7G is a high affinity substrate of BCRP, whereas H3'G did not stimulate BCRP ATPase activity. Only moderate inhibition of BCRP ATPase activity at high H3'G concentrations was observed. This study provides information on the potential of hesperetin glucuronide conjugates to act as specific ABC transporter substrates or inhibitors and indicates that regio-specific glucuronidation could affect the disposition of hesperetin., (Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.) more...

This study aimed at quantitatively comparing the occurrence/formation of DNA adducts with the carcinogenicity induced by a selection of DNA-reactive genotoxic carcinogens. Contrary to previous efforts, we used a very uniform set of data, limited to in vivo rat liver studies in order to investigate whether a correlation can be obtained, using a benchmark dose (BMD) approach. Dose-response data on both carcinogenicity and in vivo DNA adduct formation were available for six compounds, i.e. 2-acetylaminofluorene, aflatoxin B1, methyleugenol, safrole, 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline and tamoxifen. BMD(10) values for liver carcinogenicity were calculated using the US Environmental Protection Agency BMD software. DNA adduct levels at this dose were extrapolated assuming linearity of the DNA adduct dose response. In addition, the levels of DNA adducts at the BMD(10) were compared to available data on endogenous background DNA damage in the target organ. Although for an individual carcinogen the tumour response increases when adduct levels increase, our results demonstrate that when comparing different carcinogens, no quantitative correlation exists between the level of DNA adduct formation and carcinogenicity. These data confirm that the quantity of DNA adducts formed by a DNA-reactive compound is not a carcinogenicity predictor but that other factors such as type of adduct and mutagenic potential may be equally relevant. Moreover, comparison to background DNA damage supports the notion that the mere occurrence of DNA adducts above or below the level of endogenous DNA damage is neither correlated to development of cancer. These data strongly emphasise the need to apply the mode of action framework to understand the contribution of other biological effect markers playing a role in carcinogenicity. more...

A physiologically based biokinetic (PBBK) model for alkenylbenzene safrole in rats was developed using in vitro metabolic parameters determined using relevant tissue fractions. The performance of the model was evaluated by comparison of the predicted levels of 1,2-dihydroxy-4-allylbenzene and 1'-hydroxysafrole glucuronide to levels of these metabolites reported in the literature to be excreted in the urine of rats exposed to safrole and by comparison of the predicted amount of total urinary safrole metabolites to the reported levels of safrole metabolites in the urine of safrole exposed rats. These comparisons revealed that the predictions adequately match observed experimental values. Next, the model was used to predict the relative extent of bioactivation and detoxification of safrole at different oral doses. At low as well as high doses, P450 mediated oxidation of safrole mainly occurs in the liver in which 1,2-dihydroxy-4-allylbenzene was predicted to be the major P450 metabolite of safrole. A dose dependent shift in P450 mediated oxidation leading to a relative increase in bioactivation at high doses was not observed. Comparison of the results obtained for safrole with the results previously obtained with PBBK models for the related alkenylbenzenes estragole and methyleugenol revealed that the overall differences in bioactivation of the three alkenylbenzenes to their ultimate carcinogenic 1'-sulfooxy metabolites are limited. This is in line with the generally less than 4-fold difference in their level of DNA binding in in vitro and in vivo studies and their almost similar BMDL(10) values (lower confidence limit of the benchmark dose that gives 10% increase in tumor incidence over background level) obtained in in vivo carcinogenicity studies. It is concluded that in spite of differences in the rates of specific metabolic conversions, overall the levels of bioactivation of the three alkenylbenzenes are comparable which is in line with their comparable carcinogenic potential. more...

Comprehensive investigation of nutritional health effects at the molecular level requires the understanding of the interplay between three genomes, the food, the gut microbial, and the human host genome. Food genomes are researched for discovery and exploitation of macro- and micronutrients as well as specific bioactives, with those genes coding for bioactive proteins and peptides being of central interest. The human gut microbiota encompasses a complex ecosystem in the intestine with profound impact on host metabolism. It is being studied at genomic and, more recently, also at proteomic and metabonomic level. Humans are being characterized at the level of genetic pre-disposition and inter-individual variability in terms of (i) response to nutritional interventions and direction of health trajectories; (ii) epigenetic, metabolic programming at certain life stages with health consequences later in life and even for subsequent generations; and (iii) acute genomic expression as a holistic response to diet, monitored at gene transcript, protein and metabolite level. Modern nutrition science explores health-related aspects of bioactive food components, thereby promoting health, preventing, or delaying the onset of disease, optimizing performance and assessing benefits and risks in individuals and subpopulations. Personalized nutrition means adapting food to individual needs, depending on the human host's life stage, -style, and -situation. Traditionally, nutrigenomics and nutri(epi)genetics are seen as the key sciences to understand human variability in preferences and requirements for diet as well as responses to nutrition. This article puts the three nutrition and health-relevant genomes into perspective, namely the food, the gut microbial and the human host's genome, and calls for an "extended nutrigenomics" approach in order to build the future tools for personalized nutrition, health maintenance, and disease prevention. We discuss examples of these genomes, proteomes, transcriptomes, and metabolomes under the definition of genomics as the overarching term covering essentially all Omics rather than the sole study of DNA and RNA. more...

The present study defines a physiologically based biokinetic (PBBK) model for the alkenylbenzene methyleugenol in rat based on in vitro metabolic parameters determined using relevant tissue fractions, in silico derived partition coefficients, and physiological parameters derived from the literature. The model was based on the model previously developed for the related alkenylbenzene estragole and consists of eight compartments including liver, lung, and kidney as metabolizing compartments, and separate compartments for fat, arterial blood, venous blood, richly perfused and slowly perfused tissues. Evaluation of the model was performed by comparing the PBBK predicted concentration of methyleugenol in the venous compartment to methyleugenol plasma levels reported in the literature, by comparing the PBBK predicted dose-dependent percentage of formation of 2-hydroxy-4,5-dimethoxyallylbenzene, 3-hydroxy-4-methoxyallylbenzene, and 1'-hydroxymethyleugenol glucuronide to the corresponding percentage of metabolites excreted in urine reported in the literature, which were demonstrated to be in the same order of magnitude. With the model obtained the relative extent of bioactivation and detoxification of methyleugenol at different oral doses was examined. At low doses, formation of 3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-propen-1-ol and methyleugenol-2',3'-oxide leading to detoxification appear to be the major metabolic pathways, occurring in the liver. At high doses, the model reveals a relative increase in the formation of the proximate carcinogenic metabolite 1'-hydroxymethyleugenol, occurring in the liver. This relative increase in formation of 1'-hydroxymethyleugenol leads to a relative increase in formation of 1'-hydroxymethyleugenol glucuronide, 1'-oxomethyleugenol, and 1'-sulfooxymethyleugenol the latter being the ultimate carcinogenic metabolite of methyleugenol. These results indicate that the relative importance of different metabolic pathways of methyleugenol may vary in a dose-dependent way, leading to a relative increase in bioactiviation of methyleugenol at higher doses., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.) more...

Estragole is a natural constituent of several herbs and spices including sweet basil. In rodent bioassays, estragole induces hepatomas, an effect ascribed to estragole bioactivation to 1'-sulfooxyestragole resulting in DNA adduct formation. The present paper identifies nevadensin as a basil constituent able to inhibit DNA adduct formation in rat hepatocytes exposed to the proximate carcinogen 1'-hydroxyestragole and nevadensin. This inhibition occurs at the level of sulfotransferase (SULT)-mediated bioactivation of 1'-hydroxyestragole. The Ki for SULT inhibition by nevadensin was 4 nM in male rat and human liver fractions. Furthermore, nevadensin up to 20 microM did not inhibit 1'-hydroxyestragole detoxification by glucuronidation and oxidation. The inhibition of SULT by nevadensin was incorporated into the recently developed physiologically based biokinetic (PBBK) rat and human models for estragole bioactivation and detoxification. The results predict that co-administration of estragole at a level inducing hepatic tumors in vivo (50mg/kg bw) with nevadensin at a molar ratio of 0.06, representing the ratio of their occurrence in basil, results in almost 100% inhibition of the ultimate carcinogen 1'-sulfooxyestragole when assuming 100% uptake of nevadensin. Assuming 1% uptake, inhibition would still amount to more than 83%. Altogether these data point at a nevadensin-mediated inhibition of the formation of the ultimate carcinogenic metabolite of estragole, without reducing the capacity to detoxify 1'-hydroxyestragole via glucuronidation or oxidation. These data also point at a potential reduction of the cancer risk when estragole exposure occurs within a food matrix containing SULT inhibitors compared to what is observed upon exposure to pure estragole., ((c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.) more...

Metabolism by phase II enzymes and transport from intestinal cells back into the lumen by ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters limits the bioavailability of the flavanone hesperetin, the aglycone of hesperidin. This study investigates to what extent other flavonoids modulate the metabolism and transport of hesperetin by characterizing the effect of co-administrating a series of flavonoids using Caco-2 cell monolayers in a two-compartment transwell system. Flavonoids may interfere with hesperetin metabolism and can also inhibit the apically located ABC transporter breast cancer resistance protein (ABCG2) which was previously shown to be responsible for the apical transport of hesperetin metabolites. Co-exposure of Caco-2 cell monolayers to hesperetin with specific flavonoids reduced the ratio of apical efflux to basolateral transport of hesperetin metabolites, and in some cases, also reduced the amount of hesperetin metabolites detected extracellularly. As intracellular accumulation of hesperetin metabolites did not account for this decrease, inhibition of metabolism of hesperetin is likely the underlying mechanism for the reduced metabolite formation and excretion. In spite of the reduction in metabolism the amount of hesperetin metabolites transported to the basolateral side significantly increased upon co-exposure with specific flavonoids and therefore co-administration of specific flavonoids could be a strategy to improve the bioavailability of hesperetin. more...

The flavanone hesperetin ((+/-)-4'-methoxy-3',5,7-trihydroxyflavanone) is the aglycone of hesperidin, which is the major flavonoid present in sweet oranges. Hesperetin contains a chiral C-atom and so can exist as an S- and R-enantiomer, however, in nature 2S-hesperidin and its S-hesperetin aglycone are predominant. The present study reports a chiral HPLC method to separate S- and R-hesperetin on an analytical and semipreparative scale. This allowed characterization of the stereoselective differences in metabolism and transport in the intestine and activity in a selected bioassay of the separated hesperetin enantiomers in in vitro model systems: (1) with human small intestinal fractions containing UDP-glucuronosyl transferases (UGTs) or sulfotransferases (SULTs); (2) with Caco-2 cell monolayers as a model for the intestinal transport barrier; (3) with mouse Hepa-1c1c7 cells transfected with human EpRE-controlled luciferase to test induction of EpRE-mediated gene expression. The results obtained indicate some significant differences in the metabolism and transport characteristics and bioactivity between S- and R-hesperetin, however, these differences are relatively small. This indicates that for these end points, including intestinal metabolism and transport and EpRE-mediated gene induction, experiments performed with racemic hesperetin may adequately reflect what can be expected for the naturally occurring S-enantiomer. This is an important finding since at present hesperetin is only commercially available as a racemic mixture, while it exists in nature mainly as an S-enantiomer. more...

Estragole has been shown to be hepatocarcinogenic in rodent species at high-dose levels. Translation of these results into the likelihood of formation of DNA adducts, mutation, and ultimately cancer upon more realistic low-dose exposures remains a challenge. Recently we have developed physiologically based biokinetic (PBBK) models for rat and human predicting bioactivation of estragole. These PBBK models, however, predict only kinetic characteristics. The present study describes the extension of the PBBK model to a so-called physiologically based biodynamic (PBBD) model predicting in vivo DNA adduct formation of estragole in rat liver. This PBBD model was developed using in vitro data on DNA adduct formation in rat primary hepatocytes exposed to 1'-hydroxyestragole. The model was extended by linking the area under the curve for 1'-hydroxyestragole formation predicted by the PBBK model to the area under the curve for 1'-hydroxyestragole in the in vitro experiments. The outcome of the PBBD model revealed a linear increase in DNA adduct formation with increasing estragole doses up to 100 mg/kg bw. Although DNA adduct formation of genotoxic carcinogens is generally seen as a biomarker of exposure rather than a biomarker of response, the PBBD model now developed is one step closer to the ultimate toxic effect of estragole than the PBBK model described previously. Comparison of the PBBD model outcome to available data showed that the model adequately predicts the dose-dependent level of DNA adduct formation. The PBBD model predicts DNA adduct formation at low levels of exposure up to a dose level showing to cause cancer in rodent bioassays, providing a proof of principle for modeling a toxicodynamic in vivo endpoint on the basis of solely in vitro experimental data. more...

Phase II metabolism by UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) and sulfotransferases (SULTs) is the predominant metabolic pathway during the first-pass metabolism of hesperetin (4'-methoxy-3',5,7-trihydroxyflavanone). In the present study, we have determined the kinetics for glucuronidation and sulfonation of hesperetin by 12 individual UGT and 12 individual SULT enzymes as well as by human or rat small intestinal, colonic, and hepatic microsomal and cytosolic fractions. Results demonstrate that hesperetin is conjugated at positions 7 and 3' and that major enzyme-specific differences in kinetics and regioselectivity for the UGT and SULT catalyzed conjugations exist. UGT1A9, UGT1A1, UGT1A7, UGT1A8, and UGT1A3 are the major enzymes catalyzing hesperetin glucuronidation, the latter only producing 7-O-glucuronide, whereas UGT1A7 produced mainly 3'-O-glucuronide. Furthermore, UGT1A6 and UGT2B4 only produce hesperetin 7-O-glucuronide, whereas UGT1A1, UGT1A8, UGT1A9, UGT1A10, UGT2B7, and UGT2B15 conjugate both positions. SULT1A2 and SULT1A1 catalyze preferably and most efficiently the formation of hesperetin 3'-O-sulfate, and SULT1C4 catalyzes preferably and most efficiently the formation of hesperetin 7-O-sulfate. Based on expression levels SULT1A3 and SULT1B1 also will probably play a role in the sulfo-conjugation of hesperetin in vivo. The results help to explain discrepancies in metabolite patterns determined in tissues or systems with different expression of UGTs and SULTs, e.g., hepatic and intestinal fractions or Caco-2 cells. The incubations with rat and human tissue samples support an important role for intestinal cells during first-pass metabolism in the formation of hesperetin 3'-O-glucuronide and 7-O-glucuronide, which appear to be the major hesperetin metabolites found in vivo. more...

The present study investigates interindividual variation in liver levels of the proximate carcinogenic metabolite of estragole, 1'-hydroxyestragole, due to variation in two key metabolic reactions involved in the formation and detoxification of this metabolite, namely 1'-hydroxylation of estragole and oxidation of 1'-hydroxyestragole. Formation of 1'-hydroxyestragole is predominantly catalyzed by P450 1A2, 2A6, and 2E1, and results of the present study support that oxidation of 1'-hydroxyestragole is catalyzed by 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (17beta-HSD2). In a first approach, the study defines physiologically based biokinetic (PBBK) models for 14 individual human subjects, revealing a 1.8-fold interindividual variation in the area under the liver concentration-time curve (AUC) for 1'-hydroxyestragole within this group of human subjects. Variation in oxidation of 1'-hydroxyestragole by 17beta-HSD2 was shown to result in larger effects than those caused by variation in P450 enzyme activity. In a second approach, a Monte Carlo simulation was performed to evaluate the extent of variation in liver levels of 1'-hydroxyestragole that could occur in the population as a whole. This analysis could be used to derive a chemical-specific adjustment factor (CSAF), which is defined as the 99th percentile divided by the 50th percentile of the predicted distribution of the AUC of 1'-hydroxyestragole in the liver. The CSAF was estimated to range between 1.6 and 4.0, depending on the level of variation that was taken into account for oxidation of 1'-hydroxyestragole. Comparison of the CSAF to the default uncertainty factor of 3.16 for human variability in biokinetics reveals that the default uncertainty factor adequately protects 99% of the population. more...

In chemical safety assessment, information on adverse effects after chronic exposure to low levels of hazardous compounds is essential for estimating human risks. Results from in vitro studies are often not directly applicable to the in vivo situation, and in vivo animal studies often have to be performed at unrealistic high levels of exposure. Physiologically based biokinetic (PBBK) modeling can be used as a platform for integrating in vitro metabolic data to predict dose- and species-dependent in vivo effects on biokinetics, and can provide a method to obtain a better mechanistic basis for extrapolations of data obtained in experimental animal studies to the human situation. Recently, we have developed PBBK models for the bioactivation of the alkenylbenzene estragole to its DNA binding ultimate carcinogenic metabolite 1'-sulfooxyestragole in both rat and human, as well as rat and human PBBK models for the bioactivation of coumarin to its hepatotoxic o-hydroxyphenylacetaldehyde metabolite. This article presents an overview of the results obtained so far with these in silico methods for PBBK modeling, focusing on the possible implications for risk assessment, and some additional considerations and future perspectives. more...

The extent of bioactivation of the herbal constituent estragole to its ultimate carcinogenic metabolite 1'-sulfooxyestragole depends on the relative levels of bioactivation and detoxification pathways. The present study investigated the kinetics of the metabolic reactions of both estragole and its proximate carcinogenic metabolite 1'-hydroxyestragole in humans in incubations with relevant tissue fractions. Based on the kinetic data obtained a physiologically based biokinetic (PBBK) model for estragole in human was defined to predict the relative extent of bioactivation and detoxification at different dose levels of estragole. The outcomes of the model were subsequently compared with those previously predicted by a PBBK model for estragole in male rat to evaluate the occurrence of species differences in metabolic activation. The results obtained reveal that formation of 1'-oxoestragole, which represents a minor metabolic route for 1'-hydroxyestragole in rat, is the main detoxification pathway of 1'-hydroxyestragole in humans. Due to a high level of this 1'-hydroxyestragole oxidation pathway in human liver, the predicted species differences in formation of 1'-sulfooxyestragole remain relatively low, with the predicted formation of 1'-sulfooxyestragole being twofold higher in human compared with male rat, even though the formation of its precursor 1'-hydroxyestragole was predicted to be fourfold higher in human. Overall, it is concluded that in spite of significant differences in the relative extent of different metabolic pathways between human and male rat there is a minor influence of species differences on the ultimate overall bioactivation of estragole to 1'-sulfooxyestragole. more...

Isothiocyanates are electrophiles that are able to induce phase II biotransformation enzyme gene expression via an electrophile-responsive element (EpRE) in the gene regulatory region. To study the potency of different isothiocyanates to induce the expression of EpRE-regulated genes, a Hepa-1c1c7 luciferase reporter cell line was exposed to structurally different isothiocyanates. The reporter cell line, EpRE(mGST-Ya)-LUX, contains the EpRE from the regulatory region of the mouse glutathione S-transferase Ya gene. Isothiocyanates containing a methyl-sulfur side chain, e.g. sulforaphane, showed a lower EC(50) (0.8-3.2 microM) and a comparable induction factor (17-22.4) compared to the structurally different isothiocyanates containing an alkyl or aromatic side chain, e.g. allyl and phenylethyl isothiocyanate (EC(50) 3.9-6.5 microM, induction factor 17.5-23). After 24h of exposure, on average (+/-SD) 23+/-5% of the isothiocyanate was found in the cells and 77% in the cell medium. Isothiocyanates prove to be strong inducers of electrophile-responsive element-mediated gene expression at physiological concentrations. The here described luciferase reporter cell line is a suitable assay to measure the potency of compounds to induce EpRE-regulated gene expression. more...

The present study defines a physiologically based biokinetic (PBBK) model for the alkenylbenzene estragole in rat based on in vitro metabolic parameters determined using relevant tissue fractions, in silico derived partition coefficients, and physiological parameters derived from the literature. The model consists of eight compartments including liver, lung and kidney as metabolizing compartments, and additional compartments for fat, arterial blood, venous blood, rapidly perfused tissue and slowly perfused tissue. Evaluation of the model was performed by comparing the PBBK predicted dose-dependent formation of the estragole metabolites 4-allylphenol and 1'-hydroxyestragole glucuronide to literature reported levels of these metabolites, which were demonstrated to be in the same order of magnitude. With the model obtained the relative extent of bioactivation and detoxification of estragole at different oral doses was examined. At low doses formation of 4-allylphenol, leading to detoxification, is observed to be the major metabolic pathway, occurring mainly in the lung and kidney due to formation of this metabolite with high affinity in these organs. Saturation of this metabolic pathway in the lung and kidney leads to a relative increase in formation of the proximate carcinogenic metabolite 1'-hydroxyestragole, occurring mainly in the liver. This relative increase in formation of 1'-hydroxyestragole leads to a relative increase in formation of 1'-hydroxyestragole glucuronide and 1'-sulfooxyestragole the latter being the ultimate carcinogenic metabolite of estragole. These results indicate that the relative importance of different metabolic pathways of estragole may vary in a dose-dependent way, leading to a relative increase in bioactiviation of estragole at higher doses. more...

Metabolism and transport from intestinal cells back into the lumen by ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters is believed to limit the bioavailability of flavonoids. We studied metabolism and transport of the citrus flavonoid hesperetin, the aglycone of hesperidin, using a two-compartment transwell Caco-2 cell monolayer system, simulating the intestinal barrier. The role of apically located ABC transporters P-glycoprotein (MDR1/ABCB1), multidrug resistance protein 2 (ABCC2), and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP/ ABCG2) in the efflux of hesperetin and its metabolites was studied by coadministration of compounds known to inhibit several classes of ABC transporters, including cyclosporin A, GF120918 [N-(4-[2-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-6,7-dimethoxy-2-isoquinolinyl)ethyl]-phenyl)-9,10-dihydro-5-methoxy-9-oxo-4-acridine carboxamide], Ko143 [3-(6-isobutyl-9-methoxy-1,4-dioxo-1,2,3,4,6,7,12,12a-octahydropyrazino[1',2':1,6]pyrido[3,4-b]indol-3-yl)-propionic acid tert-butyl ester], MK571 (3-[[3-[2-(7-chloroquinolin-2-yl)vinyl]phenyl]-(2-dimethylcarbamoylethylsulfanyl)methylsulfanyl] propionic acid), and PSC-833 (Valspodar). Apically applied hesperetin (10 microM) was metabolized into hesperetin 7-O-glucuronide and hesperetin 7-O-sulfate, identified using high-performance liquid chromatographydiode array detector (DAD), ultraperformance liquid chromatography-DAD-tandem mass spectrometry, and authentic standards, which were transported predominantly to the apical side of the Caco-2 cell monolayer (1.12 cm(2)), at average (S.D.) rates of 14.3 (3.7) and 2.1 (0.8) pmol/min/monolayer, respectively. Hesperetin aglycone also permeated to the basolateral side, and this process was unaffected by the inhibitors used, possibly implying a passive diffusion process. Inhibition studies, however, showed that efflux of hesperetin conjugates to the apical side involved active transport, which from the pattern of inhibition appeared to involve mainly BCRP. Upon inhibition by the BCRP inhibitor Ko143 (5 micro M), the apical efflux of hesperetin conjugates was 1.9-fold reduced (p more...

The interactions of three heavy metal-containing compounds, cisplatin (CDDP), arsenic trioxide (As(2)O(3)), and mercury dichloride (HgCl(2)), with the multidrug resistance transporters MRP1 and MRP2 and the involvement of glutathione (GSH)-related processes herein were investigated. In Madin-Darby canine kidney cells stably expressing MRP1 or MRP2, viability, GSH content, calcein efflux and polarized GSH efflux were measured as a function of exposure to CDDP, As(2)O(3) and HgCl(2). In isolated Sf9-MRP1 and Sf9-MRP2 membrane vesicles, the interaction with MRP-associated ATPase activity was measured. In the latter model system adduct formation with GSH is not an issue. The data show that (1) CDDP interacts with both MRP1 and MRP2, and GSH appears to play no major role in this process, (2) As(2)O(3) interacts with MRP1 and MRP2 in which process GSH seems to be essential, and (3) HgCl(2) interacts with MRP1 and MRP2, either alone and/or as a metal-GSH complex. more...

Curcumin, an alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compound, reacts with glutathione, leading to the formation of two monoglutathionyl curcumin conjugates. In the present study, the structures of both glutathione conjugates of curcumin were identified by LC-MS and one- and two-dimensional 1H NMR analysis, and their formation in incubations with human intestinal and liver cytosol and purified human glutathione S-transferases and also in human Caco-2 cells was characterized. The results obtained demonstrate the site for glutathione conjugation to be the C1 atom, leading to two diastereoisomeric monoglutathionyl curcumin conjugates (CURSG-1 and CURSG-2). The formation of both glutathionyl conjugates appeared to be reversible. The monoglutathionyl curcumin conjugates decompose with a t1/2 of about 4 h to curcumin and other unidentified degradation products. Both human intestinal and liver cytosol catalyzed curcumin glutathione conjugation. At saturating substrate concentrations, human GSTM1a-1a and GSTA1-1 are shown to be especially active in the formation of CURSG-1, whereas GSTP1-1 and GSTA2-2 have no preference for the formation of CURSG-1 or CURSG-2. GSTT1-1 hardly catalyzes the glutathione conjugation of curcumin. In the Caco-2 human intestinal monolayer transwell model, CURSG-1 and CURSG-2 were formed at a ratio of about 2:1 followed by their excretion, which appeared to be three times higher to the apical (lumen) side than to the basolateral (blood) side. Given that GSTM1a-1a and GSTP1-1 are present in the intestinal epithelial cells, it can be concluded that efficient glutathione conjugation of curcumin may already occur in the enterocytes, followed by an efficient excretion of these glutathione conjugates to the lumen, thereby reducing the bioavailability of (unconjugated) curcumin. In conclusion, the present study identifies the nature of the diastereoisomeric monoglutathionyl curcumin conjugates, CURSG-1 and CURSG-2 formed in biological systems, and reveals that conjugate formation is catalyzed by GSTM1a-1a, GSTA1-1, and/or GSTP1-1 with different stereoselective preference. The formation of glutathione conjugates can already occur during intestinal transport, after which the monoglutathionyl conjugates are efficiently excreted to the intestinal lumen, thereby influencing the bioavailability of curcumin and, as a result, its beneficial biological effects. more...

To get more insight into possible species differences in the bioactivation of estragole, the kinetics for sulfonation of the proximate carcinogen 1'-hydroxyestragole were compared for male rat, male mouse, and mixed gender human liver S9 homogenates. In order to quantify sulfonation, 2'-deoxyguanosine was added to the incubation mixture in which sulfonation of 1'-hydroxyestragole was catalyzed to trap the reactive 1'-sulfooxyestragole. A method was developed with which the formation of the most abundant adduct with 2'-deoxyguanosine could be quantified using isotope dilution LC-ESI-MS/MS. Comparing the kinetics for sulfonation by liver S9 homogenates of male rat, male mouse, and humans revealed that sulfonation was about 30 times more efficient by male rat liver S9 than by human liver S9, whereas the catalytic efficiency by male mouse and human liver S9 was about the same. This indicates, as far as the bioactivation by sulfotransferase is concerned, that when extrapolating the cancer risk from laboratory animals to humans, using data from male rats may overestimate the cancer risk in humans, whereas using data from male mice may provide a better estimate of the cancer risk in humans. more...

Human cytochrome P450 enzymes involved in the bioactivation of estragole to its proximate carcinogen 1'-hydroxyestragole were identified and compared to the enzymes of importance for 1'-hydroxylation of the related alkenylbenzenes methyleugenol and safrole. Incubations with Supersomes revealed that all enzymes tested, except P450 2C8, are intrinsically able to 1'-hydroxylate estragole. Experiments with Gentest microsomes, expressing P450 enzymes to roughly average liver levels, indicated that P450 1A2, 2A6, 2C19, 2D6, and 2E1 might contribute to estragole 1'-hydroxylation in the human liver. Especially P450 1A2 is an important enzyme based on the correlation between P450 1A2 activity and estragole 1'-hydroxylation in human liver microsomal samples and inhibition of estragole 1'-hydroxylation by the P450 1A2 inhibitor alpha-naphthoflavone. Kinetic studies revealed that, at physiologically relevant concentrations of estragole, P450 1A2 and 2A6 are the most important enzymes for bioactivation in the human liver showing enzyme efficiencies (kcat/Km) of, respectively, 59 and 341 min-1 mM-1. Only at relatively high estragole concentrations, P450 2C19, 2D6, and 2E1 might contribute to some extent. Comparison to results from similar studies for safrole and methyleugenol revealed that competitive interactions between estragole and methyleugenol 1'-hydroxylation and between estragole and safrole 1'-hydroxylation are to be expected because of the involvement of, respectively, P450 1A2 and P450 2A6 in the bioactivation of these compounds. Furthermore, poor metabolizer phenotypes in P450 2A6 might diminish the chances on bioactivation of estragole and safrole, whereas lifestyle factors increasing P450 1A2 activities such as cigarette smoking and consumption of charbroiled food might increase those chances for estragole and methyleugenol. more...

Computational biology and chemistry combined with high-throughput analytical technologies contribute to reduce operational costs and foster innovation in every phase of the discovery of bioactive molecules. In order for life science industries to continue to deliver at the required market rate, new concepts need to be implemented in research and development, and new sources of bioactive molecules should be investigated. The genomic revolution provides the necessary information to generate novel bioactive peptides by the computational dissection of genomes. more...

The transcellular transport of ingested food ingredients across the intestinal epithelial barrier is an important factor determining bioavailability upon oral intake. This transcellular transport of many chemicals, food ingredients, drugs or toxic compounds over the intestinal epithelium can be highly dependent on the activity of membrane bound ATP binding cassette (ABC) transport proteins, able to export the compounds from the intestinal cells. The present review describes the ABC transporters involved in the efflux of bioactive compounds from the intestinal cells, either to the basolateral blood side, facilitating absorption, or back into the intestinal lumen, reducing bioavailability. The role of the ABC transporters in intestinal transcellular uptake also implies a role for inhibitors of these transporters in modulation of the bioavailability upon oral uptake. The present paper focuses on the role of flavonoids as important modulators or substrates of intestinal ABC transport proteins. Several examples of such an effect of flavonoids are presented. It can be concluded that flavonoid-mediated inhibition of ABC transporters may affect the bioavailability of drugs, bioactive food ingredients and/or food-borne toxic compounds upon oral uptake. All together it appears that the flavonoid-mediated interactions at the level of the intestinal ABC transport proteins may be an important mechanism for unexpected food-drug, food-toxin or food-food interactions. The overview also indicates that future studies should focus on i) in vivo validation of the flavonoid-mediated effects on bioavailability of drugs, toxins and beneficial bioactive food ingredients detected in in vitro models, and on ii) the role of flavonoid phase II metabolism in modulating the activity of the flavonoids to act as ABC transporter inhibitors and/or substrates. more...

A high intake of cruciferous vegetables is associated with a reduced risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. This protective effect has been linked to isothiocyanates, enzymatic hydrolysis products of glucosinolates. In this study, the metabolic fate of glucosinolates and isothiocyanates after ingestion of 19 different cruciferous vegetables was studied in three male subjects. After the consumption of 13 cruciferous vegetables (glucosinolate content, 0.01-0.94 mmol/kg) and six condiments (isothiocyanate content, 0.06-49.3 mmol/kg), eight different isothiocyanate mercapturic acids were determined in urine samples. Excretion levels after the consumption of raw vegetables and condiments were higher (bioavailability, 8.2-113%) as compared to cooked vegetables (bioavailability, 1.8-43%), but the excretion rate was similar (t1/2=2.1-3.9 h). Isothiocyanates in urine remain longer at a nonzero level after the consumption of glucosinolates from cooked vegetables, as compared to raw vegetables and condiments, and maximal levels in urine were reached about 4 h later. Isothiocyanate mercapturic acids can be used as a biomarker to reflect the active dose of isothiocyanates absorbed. more...

The electrophile-responsive element (EpRE) is a transcriptional enhancer involved in cancer-chemoprotective gene expression modulation by certain food components. Two stably transfected luciferase reporter cell lines were developed, EpRE(hNQO1)-LUX and EpRE(mGST-Ya)-LUX, based on EpRE sequences from the human NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (hNQO1) and the mouse glutathione-S-transferase Ya (mGST-Ya) gene, containing one and two tandem EpRE core sequences, respectively. The standard inducer tert-butylhydroquinone (tBHQ), the electrophile benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), and the antioxidant flavonoid quercetin were found to induce luciferase expression, thereby validating these newly developed reporter cell lines. For tBHQ and BITC, but not for quercetin, higher maximum luciferase induction was found under control of the mGST-Ya EpRE as compared to the hNQO1 EpRE, pointing at different induction mechanisms. Furthermore, we investigated the structure-activity relationship for induction of luciferase expression by flavonoids in EpRE(mGST-Ya)-LUX cells, and also the relation between luciferase induction and flavonoid antioxidant potency. Five different flavonoids with a planar molecular structure were found to induce various levels of luciferase activity, whereas taxifolin, a non-planar flavonoid, did not induce luciferase activity. This suggests that a stereospecific molecular interaction may be important for EpRE-mediated gene activation, possibly with Keap1, a regulator of EpRE-controlled transcription, or with another effector or receptor protein. No consistent relation between luciferase induction level and flavonoid antioxidant potential was observed. Altogether, these results point to differences in induction mechanism between the various chemoprotective compounds tested. The newly developed stably transfected reporter cell lines provide a validated tool for future screening and mechanistic studies of EpRE-mediated gene transcription. more...

Membrane transport proteins belonging to the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family of transport proteins play a central role in the defence of organisms against toxic compounds, including anticancer drugs. However, for compounds that are designed to display a toxic effect, this defence system diminishes their effectiveness. This is typically the case in the development of cellular resistance to anticancer drugs. Inhibitors of these transporters are thus potentially useful tools to reverse this transporter-mediated cellular resistance to anticancer drugs and, eventually, to enhance the effectiveness of the treatment of patients with drug-resistant cancer. This review highlights the various types of inhibitors of several multidrug resistance-related ABC proteins, and demonstrates that the metabolism of inhibitors, as illustrated by recent data obtained for various natural compound inhibitors, may have considerable implications for their effect on drug transport and their potential for treatment of drug resistance. more...

To study the possible interplay between glutathione metabolism of and MRP inhibition by thiol reactive compounds, the interactions of a series of alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds with multidrug resistance proteins 1 and 2 (MRP1/ABCC1 and MRP2/ABCC2) were studied. Alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds react with glutathione, and therefore either their parent compound or their intracellularly formed glutathione metabolite(s) can modulate MRP-activity. Inhibition was studied in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells stably expressing MRP1 or MRP2, and isolated Sf9-MRP1 or Sf9-MRP2 membrane vesicles. In the latter model system metabolism is not an issue. Of the series tested, three distinct groups could be discriminated based on differences in interplay of glutathione metabolism with MRP1 inhibition. Curcumin inhibited MRP1 transport only in the vesicle model pointing at inhibition by the parent compound. The glutathione conjugates of curcumin also inhibit MRP1 mediated transport, but to a much lesser extent than the parent compound curcumin. In the cellular model system, it was demonstrated that glutathione conjugation of curcumin leads to inactivation of its inhibitory potential. Demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin inhibited MRP1 in both the vesicle and cellular model pointing at inhibitory potency of at least the parent compound and possibly their metabolites. A second group, including caffeic acid phenethyl ester inhibited MRP1-mediated calcein transport only in the MDCKII-MRP1 cells, and not in the vesicle model indicating that metabolism appeared a prerequisite to generate the active inhibitor. Finally cinnamaldehyde, crotonaldehyde, trans-2-hexanal, citral, and acrolein did not inhibit MRP1. For MRP2, inhibition was much less in both model systems, with the three curcuminoids being the most effective. The results of this study show the importance to study the complex interplay between MRP-inhibitors and their cellular metabolism, the latter affecting the ultimate potential of a compound for cellular MRP-inhibition. more...

In the present study, the effects of myricetin on either MRP1 or MRP2 mediated vincristine resistance in transfected MDCKII cells were examined. The results obtained show that myricetin can inhibit both MRP1 and MRP2 mediated vincristine efflux in a concentration dependent manner. The IC50 values for cellular vincristine transport inhibition by myricetin were 30.5+/-1.7 microM for MRP1 and 24.6+/-1.3 microM for MRP2 containing MDCKII cells. Cell proliferation analysis showed that the MDCKII control cells are very sensitive towards vincristine toxicity with an IC50 value of 1.1+/-0.1 microM. The MDCKII MRP1 and MRP2 cells are less sensitive towards vincristine toxicity with IC50 values of 33.1+/-1.9 and 22.2+/-1.4 microM, respectively. In both the MRP1 and MRP2 cells, exposure to 25 microM myricetin enhances the sensitivity of the cells towards vincristine toxicity to IC50 values of 7.6+/-0.5 and 5.8+/-0.5 microM, respectively. The increase of sensitivity represents a reversal of the resistance towards vincristine as a result of MRP1 and MRP2 inhibition. Thus, the present study demonstrates the ability of the flavonoid myricetin to modulate MRP1 and MRP2 mediated resistance to the anticancer drug vincristine in transfected cells, indicating that flavonoids might be a valuable adjunct to chemotherapy to block MRP mediated resistance. more...

Background: Many different mechanisms are involved in nutrient-related prevention of colon cancer. In this study, a comprehensive assessment of the spectrum of possible biological actions of the bioactive compound quercetin is made using multiple gene expression analysis. Quercetin is a flavonoid that can inhibit proliferation of tumor cells and reduce the number of aberrant crypt foci, although increase of number of colon tumors was also reported., Aim of the Study: In order to elucidate possible mechanisms involved in its mode of action the effect of quercetin on expression of 4000 human genes in Caco-2 cells was studied and related to functional effects., Methods: Caco-2 cells were exposed to 5 or 50 microM quercetin for 48 hours, differential expression of 4000 human genes was studied using microarrays and related to functional effects. Differentially expressed genes were categorized in seven functional groups: cell cycle and differentiation, apoptosis, tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes, cell adhesion and cell-cell interaction, transcription, signal transduction and energy metabolism. Also, cell proliferation and cell cycle distribution were measured., Results: Quercetin (5 microM) downregulated expression of cell cycle genes (for example CDC6, CDK4 and cyclin D1), downregulated cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest in Caco-2 cells. After exposure to 50 microM quercetin cell proliferation decreased to 51.3% of control, and further decrease of the percentage of cells in the G1 phase coincided with an increase of the percentage of cells in the sub-G1 phase. Quercetin upregulated expression of several tumor suppressor genes. In addition, genes involved in signal transduction pathways like beta catenin/TCF signalling and MAPK signal transduction were influenced by quercetin., Conclusions: This study shows that large-scale gene expression analysis in combination with functional assays yields a considerable amount of information on (anti-)carcinogenic potential of food components like quercetin. more...

This study investigated whether integrated analysis of transcriptomics and metabolomics data increased the sensitivity of detection and provided new insight in the mechanisms of hepatotoxicity. Metabolite levels in plasma or urine were analyzed in relation to changes in hepatic gene expression in rats that received bromobenzene to induce acute hepatic centrilobular necrosis. Bromobenzene-induced lesions were only observed after treatment with the highest of 3 dose levels. Multivariate statistical analysis showed that metabolite profiles of blood plasma were largely different from controls when the rats were treated with bromobenzene, also at doses that did not elicit histopathological changes. Changes in levels of genes and metabolites were related to the degree of necrosis, providing putative novel markers of hepatotoxicity. Levels of endogenous metabolites like alanine, lactate, tyrosine and dimethylglycine differed in plasma from treated and control rats. The metabolite profiles of urine were found to be reflective of the exposure levels. This integrated analysis of hepatic transcriptomics and plasma metabolomics was able to more sensitively detect changes related to hepatotoxicity and discover novel markers. The relation between gene expression and metabolite levels was explored and additional insight in the role of various biological pathways in bromobenzene-induced hepatic necrosis was obtained, including the involvement of apoptosis and changes in glycolysis and amino acid metabolism. The complete Table 2 is available as a supplemental file online at http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/openurlasp?genre=journal&issn=0192-6233. To access the file, click on the issue link for 33(4), then select this article. A download option appears at the bottom of this abstract. In order to access the full article online, you must either have an individual subscription or a member subscription accessed through www.toxpath.org. more...

Rats were exposed to three levels of bromobenzene, sampled at 6, 24, and 48 h, and liver gene expression profiles were determined to identify dose and time-related changes. Expression of many genes changed transiently, and dependent on the dose. Few changes were identified after 6 h, but many genes were differentially expressed after 24 h, while after 48 h, only the high dose elicited large effects. Differentially expressed genes were involved in drug metabolism (upregulated GSTs, mEH, NQO1, Mrps, downregulated CYPs, sulfotransferases), oxidative stress (induced HO-1, peroxiredoxin, ferritin), GSH depletion (induced GCS-l, GSTA, GSTM) the acute phase response, and in processes like cholesterol, fatty acid and protein metabolism, and intracellular signaling. Trancriptional regulation via the electrophile and sterol response elements seemed to mediate part of the response to bromobenzene. Recovery of the liver was suggested in response to BB by the altered expression of genes involved in protein synthesis and cytoskeleton rearrangement. Furthermore, after 48 h, rats in the mid dose group showed no toxicity, and gene expression patterns resembled the normal situation. For certain genes (e.g., CYP4A, metallothioneins), intraday variation in expression levels was found, regardless of the treatment. Selected cDNA microarray measurements were confirmed using the specific and sensitive branched DNA signal amplification assay. more...

BACKGROUND: Curcumin is a spice and a coloring food compound with a promising role in colon cancer prevention. Curcumin protects against development of colon tumors in rats treated with a colon carcinogen, in colon cancer cells curcumin can inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis, it is an anti-oxidant and it can act as an anti-inflammatory agent. The aim of this study was to elucidate mechanisms and effect of curcumin in colon cancer cells using gene expression profiling. METHODS: Gene expression changes in response to curcumin exposure were studied in two human colon cancer cell lines, using cDNA microarrays with four thousand human genes. HT29 cells were exposed to two different concentrations of curcumin and gene expression changes were followed in time (3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours). Gene expression changes after short-term exposure (3 or 6 hours) to curcumin were also studied in a second cell type, Caco-2 cells. RESULTS: Gene expression changes (>1.5-fold) were found at all time points. HT29 cells were more sensitive to curcumin than Caco-2 cells. Early response genes were involved in cell cycle, signal transduction, DNA repair, gene transcription, cell adhesion and xenobiotic metabolism. In HT29 cells curcumin modulated a number of cell cycle genes of which several have a role in transition through the G2/M phase. This corresponded to a cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase as was observed by flow cytometry. Functional groups with a similar expression profile included genes involved in phase-II metabolism that were induced by curcumin after 12 and 24 hours. Expression of some cytochrome P450 genes was downregulated by curcumin in HT29 and Caco-2 cells. In addition, curcumin affected expression of metallothionein genes, tubulin genes, p53 and other genes involved in colon carcinogenesis. CONCLUSIONS: This study has extended knowledge on pathways or processes already reported to be affected by curcumin (cell cycle arrest, phase-II genes). Moreover, potential new leads to genes and pathways that could play a role in colon cancer prevention by curcumin were identified. more...

The objective of this study was to investigate the structural requirements necessary for inhibition of glutathione S-transferase P1-1 (GSTP1-1) and GS-X pump (MRP1 and MRP2) activity by structurally related flavonoids, in GSTP1-1 transfected MCF7 cells (pMTG5). The results reveal that GSTP1-1 activity in MCF7 pMTG5 cells can be inhibited by some flavonoids. Especially galangin was able to inhibit almost all cellular GSTP1-1 activity upon exposure of the cells to a concentration of 25microM. Other flavonoids like kaempferol, eriodictyol and quercetin showed a moderate GSTP1-1 inhibitory potential. For GSTP1-1 inhibition, no specific structural requirements necessary for potent inhibition could be defined. Most flavonoids appeared to be potent GS-X transport inhibitors with IC(50) values ranging between 0.8 and 8microM. Luteolin and quercetin were the strongest inhibitors with IC(50) values of 0.8 and 1.3microM, respectively. Flavonoids without a C2-C3 double bond like eriodictyol, taxifolin and catechin did not inhibit GS-X pump activity. The results of this study demonstrate that the structural features necessary for high potency GS-X pump inhibition by flavonoids are (1) the presence of hydroxyl groups, especially two of them generating the 3',4'-catechol moiety; and (2) a planar molecule due to the presence of a C2-C3 double bond. Other factors, like lipophilicity and the total number of hydroxyl groups do not seem to be dominating the flavonoid-mediated GS-X pump inhibition. To identify the GS-X pump responsible for the DNP-SG efflux in MCF7 cells, the effects of three characteristic flavonoids quercetin, flavone and taxifolin on MRP1 and MRP2 activity were studied using transfected MDCKII cells. All three flavonoids as well as the typical MRP inhibitor (MK571) affected MRP1-mediated transport activity in a similar way as observed in the MCF7 cells. In addition, the most potent GS-X pump inhibitor in the MCF7 cells, quercetin, did not affect MRP2-mediated transport activity. These observations clearly indicate that the GS-X pump activity in the MCF7 cells is likely to be the result of flavonoid-mediated inhibition of MRP1 and not MRP2. Altogether, the present study reveals that a major site for flavonoid interaction with GSH-dependent toxicokinetics is the GS-X pump MRP1 rather than the conjugating GSTP1-1 activity itself. Of the flavonoids shown to be most active especially quercetin is frequently marketed in functional food supplements. Given the physiological levels expected to be reached upon supplement intake, the IC(50) values of the present study point at possible flavonoid-drug and/or flavonoid-xenobiotic interactions especially regarding transport processes involved in toxicokinetics. more...