Annelies L. Draaisma

Microarray analysis in rat liver slices correctly predicts in vivo hepatotoxicity.

The microarray technology, developed for the simultaneous analysis of a large number of genes, may be useful for the detection of toxicity in an early stage of the development of new drugs. The effect of different hepatotoxins was analyzed at the gene expression level in the rat liver both in vivo and in vitro. As in vitro model system the precision-cut liver slice model was used, in which all liver cell types are present in their natural architecture. This is important since drug-induced toxicity often is a multi-cellular process involving not only hepatocytes but also other cell types such as Kupffer and stellate cells. As model toxic compounds lipopolysaccharide (LPS, inducing inflammation), paracetamol (necrosis), carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4), fibrosis and necrosis) and gliotoxin (apoptosis) were used. The aim of this study was to validate the rat liver slice system as in vitro model system for drug-induced toxicity studies. The results of the microarray studies show that the in vitro profiles of gene expression cluster per compound and incubation time, and when analyzed in a commercial gene expression database, can predict the toxicity and pathology observed in vivo. Each toxic compound induces a specific pattern of gene expression changes. In addition, some common genes were up- or down-regulated with all toxic compounds. These data show that the rat liver slice system can be an appropriate tool for the prediction of multi-cellular liver toxicity. The same experiments and analyses are currently performed for the prediction of human specific toxicity using human liver slices.

Coordinated induction of drug transporters and phase I and II metabolism in human liver slices.

Although regulation of phase I drug metabolism in human liver is relatively well studied, the regulation of phase II enzymes and of drug transporters is incompletely characterized. Therefore, we used human liver slices to investigate the PXR, CAR and AhR-mediated induction of drug transporters and phase I and II metabolic enzymes. Precision-cut human liver slices were incubated for 5 or 24h with prototypical inducers: phenobarbital (PB) (50 microM) for CAR, beta-naphthoflavone (BNF) (25 microM) for AhR, and rifampicin (RIF) (10 microM) for PXR, and gene expression of the phase I enzymes CYP1A1, 1A2, 3A4, 3A5, 2B6, 2A6, the phase II enzymes UGT1A1 and 1A6, and the transporters MRP2, MDR1, BSEP, NTCP and OATP8 was measured. BNF induced CYP1A1, UGT1A1 and UGT1A6 and MRP2, NTCP and MDR1. RIF induced CYP3A4, 3A5, 2B6, 2A6, UGT1A1, UGT1A6 and BSEP, MRP2 and MDR1 and slightly downregulated OATP8. PB induced CYP3A4, 3A5, 2B6 and 2A6, UGT1A1 and all transporters. Large interindividual differences were found with respect to the level of induction. Enzyme activity of CYP3A4, measured by testosterone metabolism, was increased after 24h by RIF. 7-Ethoxycoumarin O-deethylation activity, mediated predominantly by CYP 1A1/1A2 but also by other CYPs, was increased after 24h with PB. We have shown that regulation of all phases of the (in)activation of a drug via the CAR, AhR and the PXR pathways can be studied in human liver slices. The concomitant induction of metabolic enzymes and transporters shows that also in the human liver transporters and metabolic enzymes are regulated coordinately.

Drug-metabolizing activity of human and rat liver, lung, kidney and intestine slices

1. Organ-specific biotransformation was studied in human and rat liver, lung, kidney and small intestine slices and compared on a protein basis, using four model substances. 2. Deethylation of lidocaine was highest in liver slices from both man and rat, followed by the small intestine. 3. Metabolism of testosterone was highest in liver slices, but a different overall metabolic pattern was found between the different organs. 4. Lung, kidney and intestine slices prepared from human and rat organs showed mainly an unknown metabolite of 7-ethoxycoumarin identified as 4-ethoxy-2-hydroxyphenyl propionic acid (EPPA). 5. The maximal metabolism of 7-ethoxycoumarin in slices was equal with in vivo Vmax in the rat. 6. Phase II metabolism of 7-hydroxycoumarin in kidney and intestinal slices was about 60% of the activity in liver slices. 7. In conclusion, organs other than the liver show a surprisingly high drug-metabolizing activity. Thus, the use of precision-cut slices of a combination of drug metabolizing organs in an in vitro test system from both animal and human origin is required for a proper systematic prediction of drug metabolism in man.

Prediction of whole-body metabolic clearance of drugs through the combined use of slices from rat liver, lung, kidney, small intestine and colon

1. The aim was to investigate whether precision-cut rat tissue slices could be used to predict metabolic drug clearance in vivo. To obtain a complete picture, slices not only from liver, but also from lung, kidney, small intestine and colon were included. 2. The metabolic clearances of 7-ethoxycoumarin, 7-hydroxycoumarin, testosterone, methyltestosterone and warfarin were determined by measuring the disappearance of these compounds during incubation with slices prepared from liver, lung, kidney, small intestine and colon. 3. The total in vitro metabolic clearance was determined by adding the individual in vitro organ clearances from the slices. Prediction based on the in vitro clearance was within an order of magnitude to the corresponding in vivo values. Interestingly, the relative contribution of extrahepatic metabolic clearance of the studied compounds to total clearance was remarkably high, ranging from 35 to 72% of the total metabolic clearance. 4. It is concluded that the model of multi-organ precision-cut slices is a useful in vitro tool for prediction of in vivo metabolic clearance. In addition, it provides information about the relative contribution of the liver, lung, kidney, small intestine and colon to the total metabolic clearance.