A range of potential chemoprotective agents, most of them natural dietary constituents, has been examined for ability to modulate both phase I (cytochrome P450 1A1, 1A2, 2B1/2, 2C11, 2E1, 3A, 4A) and phase II drug metabolizing enzymes (glutathione S-transferases, in particular subunits Yc2 and P, aflatoxin B1-aldehyde reductase and quinone reductase) in rat liver. In addition to assays of total enzyme activity and Western blots for individual isozymes, the ability of microsomes to metabolize aflatoxin B1, and of cytosols to conjugate aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)-epoxide to GSH and to produce AFB1-dialcohol, were measured. Induction of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity was examined by histochemistry. Differing patterns of induction were observed, reflecting differences in the control of expression of the individual enzymes studied. Of the compounds examined, butylated hydroxytoluene, ethoxyquin, indole-3-carbinol and phenethyl isothiocyanate were the most potent bifunctional agents (inducing both phase I and II activities). Oltipraz, while only weakly inducing CYP1A2 and 2B1/2, was a potent inducer of phase II enzymes. Caffeic acid, garlic oil, sinigrin and propyl gallate all showed some ability to induce phase II enzymes. 4-Methyl catechol, alpha-tocopherol and red wine decreased certain phase I enzyme activities, while inducing total GST activity. Butylated hydroxytoluene, ethoxyquin, garlic oil and indole-3-carbinol induced gamma glutamyltranspeptidase in periportal hepatocytes. Particularly because of their ability to induce the detoxifying activities of glutathione S-transferase Yc2 and aldehyde reductase, butylated hydroxytoluene, ethoxyquin, indole-3-carbinol, oltipraz, phenethyl isothiocyanate and sinigrin will be effective blocking agents in rodents, if administered prior to AFB1. While these studies indicate the relative contributions of phase I and II metabolism in the overall protective effect in rat, care should be taken that a similar balance is achieved in man, and that relevant enzymes or iso forms are induced.

Protection of liver against the toxic and carcinogenic effects ofaflatoxin B1 (AFB1) can be achieved through the induction of detoxification enzymes by chemoprotectors such as the phenolic antioxidant ethoxyquin. We have cloned and sequenced a cDNA encoding an aldehyde reductase (AFB1-AR), which is expressed in rat liver in response to dietary ethoxyquin. Expression of the cDNA in Escherichia coli and purifi'cation ofthe recombinant enzyme reveals that the protein exhibits aldehyde reductase activity and is capable of converting the protein-binding dialdehyde form of to the nonbinding dialcohol metabolite. We show that the mRNA encoding this enzyme is markedly elevated in the liver of rats fed an ethoxyquin-containing diet, correlating with acquisition of resistance to AFB1. AFB1-AR represents the only carcinogen-metabolizing aldehyde reductase identified to date that is induced by a chemoprotector. Alignment of the amino acid sequence of AFB1-AR with other known and putative aldehyde reductases shows that it defines a subfamily within the aldo-keto reductase superfamily.

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Liver cancer is a major cause of premature death in many areas of Africa and Asia and its incidence is strongly correlated with exposure to aflatoxin B1 (AFB1).Because AFB1 requires metabolic activation to achieve a biological response, there is a need for detailed knowledge of the mechanism of activation to assess individual risk. We have carried out an extensive study using a total of 19 human liver samples to determine the individual variability in the metabolism of the toxin to mutagenic or detoxification products and to identify the specific cytochrome P450 forms involved in these processes. Metabolism to the toxic 8,9-epoxide or to products mutagenic in the Ames test was found to exhibit very large individual variation. The rates of metabolic activation were highly correlated with both the level of proteins of the P450I1A gene family and with the total cytochrome P450 content of the microsomes. In agreement with this, antibodies reacting with P450IHA proteins were strong inhibitors of both