Jean-Marie Colet

Contemporary issues in toxicology - The role of metabonomics in toxicology and its evaluation by the COMET project

The role that metabonomics has in the evaluation of xenobiotic toxicity studies is presented here together with a brief summary of published studies. To provide a comprehensive assessment of this approach, the Consortium for Metabonomic Toxicology (COMET) has been formed between six pharmaceutical companies and Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine (IC), London, UK. The objective of this group is to define methodologies and to apply metabonomic data generated using (1)H NMR spectroscopy of urine and blood serum for preclinical toxicological screening of candidate drugs. This is being achieved by generating databases of results for a wide range of model toxins which serve as the raw material for computer-based expert systems for toxicity prediction. The project progress on the generation of comprehensive metabonomic databases and multivariate statistical models for prediction of toxicity, initially for liver and kidney toxicity in the rat and mouse, is reported. Additionally, both the analytical and biological variation which might arise through the use of metabonomics has been evaluated. An evaluation of intersite NMR analytical reproducibility has revealed a high degree of robustness. Second, a detailed comparison has been made of the ability of the six companies to provide consistent urine and serum samples using a study of the toxicity of hydrazine at two doses in the male rat, this study showing a high degree of consistency between samples from the various companies in terms of spectral patterns and biochemical composition. Differences between samples from the various companies were small compared to the biochemical effects of the toxin. A metabonomic model has been constructed for urine from control rats, enabling identification of outlier samples and the metabolic reasons for the deviation. Building on this success, and with the completion of studies on approximately 80 model toxins, first expert systems for prediction of liver and kidney toxicity have been generated.

SPECTROSCOPIC AND METABOLIC EFFECTS OF MNCL2 AND MNDPDP ON THE ISOLATED AND PERFUSED RAT HEART

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES Several works have shown that the hepatobiliary magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent manganese dipyridoxyl diphosphate (MnDPDP) partly releases its metallic ion and exhibits cardiovascular effects that are supposed to arise from the free manganese ions (Mn++). In the current study, the cellular internalization of Mn by the isolated rat heart is monitored through the mechanical function of the organ and the relative broadening of the P-31 nuclear magnetic resonances. METHODS Rat hearts were perfused with manganese chloride (MnCl2; 15 and 25 microM) or MnDPDP (25 microM). Variations of the linewidths, heights, and surfaces of phosphocreatine and adenosine triphosphate peaks were monitored. Cardiac function was monitored simultaneously through heart rate, left ventricular pressure, and coronary flow. RESULTS Influx of Mn++ induces a significant broadening of the P-31 resonances of adenosine triphosphate and phosphocreatine because of a strong scalar paramagnetic interaction between the nuclei and the ion. Compared with MnDPDP administered at the same concentration, MnCl2 induced a more pronounced and dose-dependent line broadening as well as a coronary vasodilation. Calcium channel blockers (nifedipine and verapamil) and EDTA inhibit MnCl2 influx. Similarly, verapamil, EDTA, and DPDP reduce the alterations provoked by MnDPDP. CONCLUSIONS The effects of MnDPDP are smaller but of the same type than those induced by MnCl2. Their inhibition by calcium channel blockers (verapamil and nifedipine) and by an excess of strong chelators such as DPDP or EDTA confirms that they originate from a partial release of Mn++ by the contrast agent.

Investigation of lanthanide-based starch particles as a model system for liver contrast agents.

Gadolinium and dysprosium diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid‐labeled starch microparticles (Gd‐DTPA‐SP and Dy‐DTPA‐SP) were investigated as model liver contrast agents. The liver contrast efficacy of particles with low and high metal contents was compared in two imaging models: in vivo rat liver and ex vivo perfused rat liver. The biodistribution of intravenously injected particles was also assessed by ex vivo relaxometry and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrophotometry of tissues. All particles reduced the liver signal intensity on T2‐weighted spin‐echo and gradient‐recalled echo images as a result of susceptibility effects. Because of their higher magnetic susceptibility, the Dy‐DTPA‐SP were more effective negative contrast enhancers than the Gd‐DTPA‐SP. On T1‐weighted spin‐echo images, only the Gd‐DTPA‐SP with low metal content significantly increased the liver signal intensity. In addition, these low‐loading Gd‐DTPA‐SP markedly reduced the blood T1. The two latter observations were not consistent with the anticipated blood circulation time of microparticles, but were a result of the lower stability of these particles in blood compared with Gd‐DTPA‐SP, which has a high metal content. Regardless of stability or imaging conditions, the paramagnetic starch particles investigated showed potential as negative liver contrast enhancers. However, the observed accumulation of particles in the lungs represented a biological limitation for their use as contrast agents.J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 1999; 9:295–303.

Paramagnetic Liposomes as Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast Agents: Assessment of Contrast Efficacy in Various Liver Models

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES Liposomal gadolinium (Gd)-HP-DO3A has been evaluated as a contrast agent for liver magnetic resonance imaging. The influence of various liposomal physicochemical properties on the liver uptake and contrast efficacy was investigated in various ex vivo and in vivo liver models. METHODS Liposomes of different size and membrane properties were prepared. The liposome size ranged from 74 to 304 nm. Two types of phospholipid compositions were studied; a mixture of hydrogenated phosphatidylcholine (HPC) and hydrogenated phosphatidylserine (HPS) with a phase transition temperature (Tm) of 51 degrees C and, a blend composed of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol (DPPG) displaying a Tm of 41 degrees C. Ex vivo tissue relaxometry and in vivo liver imaging were used to study the influence of liposome composition on the liver uptake and contrast efficacy of intravenously injected liposomes. The influence of liposome size and composition on the kinetics of liver uptake and imaging effect was assessed ex vivo in the perfused rat liver. RESULTS The HPC/HPS preparations showed generally a higher and faster liver uptake than the DPPC/DPPG preparations due to a higher stability in blood/perfusate (high Tm) and to the HPS component. The liposome size modulated the extent and kinetics of liver uptake; the larger the size, the faster and more extensive was the liver uptake. Both types of liposome preparations were shown to be efficient liver susceptibility agents both ex vivo and in vivo due to their uptake by the Kupffer cells of liver. The lack of full correlation between the extent of liver uptake and degree of contrast enhancement might be attributed to different regimes of susceptibility-based relaxation. CONCLUSIONS The present study has demonstrated the influence of key liposomal physicochemical properties on the liver uptake and contrast efficacy of liposome-encapsulated Gd chelates, exemplified by Gd-HP-DO3A.

Design, synthesis, and structure-activity relationship studies of novel 3-alkylindole derivatives as selective and highly potent myeloperoxidase inhibitors.

Due to its production of potent antimicrobial oxidants including hypochlorous acid, human myeloperoxidase (MPO) plays a critical role in innate immunity and inflammatory diseases. Thus MPO is an attractive target in drug design. (Aminoalkyl)fluoroindole derivatives were detected to be very potent MPO inhibitors; however, they also promote inhibition of the serotonin reuptake transporter (SERT) at the same concentration range. Via structure-based drug design, a new series of MPO inhibitors derived from 3-alkylindole were synthesized and their effects were assessed on MPO-mediated taurine chlorination and low-density lipoprotein oxidation as well as on inhibition of SERT. The fluoroindole compound with three carbons in the side chain and one amide group exhibited a selectivity index of 35 (Ki/IC50) with high inhibition of MPO activity (IC50 = 18 nM), whereas its effect on SERT was in the micromolar range. Structure-function relationships, mechanism of action, and safety of the molecule are discussed.

PPARs: Interference with Warburg’ Effect and Clinical Anticancer Trials

The metabolic/cell signaling basis of Warburgs effect (“aerobic glycolysis”) and the general metabolic phenotype adopted by cancer cells are first reviewed. Several bypasses are adopted to provide a panoramic integrated view of tumoral metabolism, by attributing a central signaling role to hypoxia-induced factor (HIF-1) in the expression of aerobic glycolysis. The cancer metabolic phenotype also results from alterations of other routes involving ras, myc, p53, and Akt signaling and the propensity of cancer cells to develop signaling aberrances (notably aberrant surface receptor expression) which, when present, offer unique opportunities for therapeutic interventions. The rationale for various emerging strategies for cancer treatment is presented along with mechanisms by which PPAR ligands might interfere directly with tumoral metabolism and promote anticancer activity. Clinical trials using PPAR ligands are reviewed and followed by concluding remarks and perspectives for future studies. A therapeutic need to associate PPAR ligands with other anticancer agents is perhaps an important lesson to be learned from the results of the clinical trials conducted to date.

A metabonomic evaluation of the monocrotaline-induced sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) in rats.

The main curative treatment of colorectal cancer remains the surgery. However, when metastases are suspected, surgery is followed by a preventive chemotherapy using oxaliplatin which, unfortunately, may cause liver sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS). Such hepatic damage is barely detected during or after chemotherapy due to a lack of effective diagnostic procedures, but liver biopsy. The primary objective of the present study was to identify potential early diagnosis biomarkers of SOS using a metabonomic approach. SOS was induced in rats by monocrotaline, a prototypical toxic substance. (1)H NMR spectroscopy analysis of urine samples collected from rats treated with monocrotaline showed significant metabolic changes as compared to controls. During a first phase, cellular protective mechanisms such as an increased synthesis of GSH (reduced taurine) and the recruitment of cell osmolytes in the liver (betaine) were seen. In the second phase, the disturbance of the urea cycle (increased ornithine and urea reduction) leading to the depletion of NO, the alteration in the GSH synthesis (increased creatine and GSH precursors (glutamate, dimethylglycine and sarcosine)), and the liver necrosis (decrease taurine and increase creatine) all indicate the development of SOS.

Development of new glucosylated derivatives of gadolinium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic for magnetic resonance angiography

Rationale and objectivesA possible approach for the extension of the vascular residence time of contrast agents relies on the renal reabsorption mechanisms of some molecules such as glucose. In this study, various small-molecular-weight glucosyl derivatives of gadolinium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic (Gd-DTPA) were synthesized and their vascular half-life was studied. MethodsSeveral Gd-DTPA-bisamides carrying glucosyl groups bound by different linkers were prepared. The pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of these compounds were determined on Wistar rats. ResultsThe sugar moieties linked to Gd-DTPA efficiently reduce the renal excretion of some derivatives. The interaction with renal carrier has not been clearly demonstrated, nor was any interaction observed with blood components. ConclusionsTwo of the new glucosylated derivatives of Gd-DTPA (Gd-DTPA-BC2-&bgr;-cellobionA 2 and Gd-DTPA-BC4-&bgr;-glucosylA 7) can be proposed as blood-pool MR contrast agents, considering their vascular remanence.

Three optimized and validated (using accuracy profiles) LC methods for the determination of pentamidine and new analogs in rat plasma

Three novel LC-UV methods for the determination of pentamidine (PTMD) and two of its new analogs in rat plasma are described. The chromatographic conditions (wavelength, acetonitrile percentage in the mobile phase, internal standard) were optimized to have an efficient selectivity. A pre-step of extraction was simultaneously developed for each compound. For PTMD, a solid phase extraction (SPE) with Oasis(®) HLB cartridges was selected, while for the analogs we used protein precipitation with acetonitrile. SPE for PTMD gave excellent results in terms of extraction yield (99.7 ± 2.8) whereas the recoveries for the analogs were not so high but were reproducible as well (64.6 ± 2.6 and 36.8 ± 1.6 for analog 1 and 2, respectively). By means of a recent strategy based on accuracy profiles (β-expectation tolerance interval), the methods were successfully validated. β was fixed at 95% and the acceptability limits at ± 15% as recommended by the FDA. The method was successfully validated for PTMD (29.6-586.54 ng/mL), analog 1 (74.23-742.3 ng/mL) and analog 2 (178.12-890.6 ng/mL). The first concentration level tested was considered as the LLOQ (lower limit of quantification) for PTMD and analog 1 whereas for analog 2, the LLOQ was not the first level tested and was raised to 178.12 ng/mL.

Data-driven analysis approach for biomarker discovery using molecular-profiling technologies

Abstract High-throughput molecular-profiling technologies provide rapid, efficient and systematic approaches to search for biomarkers. Supervised learning algorithms are naturally suited to analyse a large amount of data generated using these technologies in biomarker discovery efforts. The study demonstrates with two examples a data-driven analysis approach to analysis of large complicated datasets collected in high-throughput technologies in the context of biomarker discovery. The approach consists of two analytic steps: an initial unsupervised analysis to obtain accurate knowledge about sample clustering, followed by a second supervised analysis to identify a small set of putative biomarkers for further experimental characterization. By comparing the most widely applied clustering algorithms using a leukaemia DNA microarray dataset, it was established that principal component analysis-assisted projections of samples from a high-dimensional molecular feature space into a few low dimensional subspaces provides a more effective and accurate way to explore visually and identify data structures that confirm intended experimental effects based on expected group membership. A supervised analysis method, shrunken centroid algorithm, was chosen to take knowledge of sample clustering gained or confirmed by the first step of the analysis to identify a small set of molecules as candidate biomarkers for further experimentation. The approach was applied to two molecular-profiling studies. In the first study, PCA-assisted analysis of DNA microarray data revealed that discrete data structures exist in rat liver gene expression and correlated with blood clinical chemistry and liver pathological damage in response to a chemical toxicant diethylhexylphthalate, a peroxisome-proliferator-activator receptor agonist. Sixteen genes were then identified by shrunken centroid algorithm as the best candidate biomarkers for liver damage. Functional annotations of these genes revealed roles in acute phase response, lipid and fatty acid metabolism and they are functionally relevant to the observed toxicities. In the second study, 26 urine ions identified from a GC/MS spectrum, two of which were glucose fragment ions included as positive controls, showed robust changes with the development of diabetes in Zucker diabetic fatty rats. Further experiments are needed to define their chemical identities and establish functional relevancy to disease development.