The metabolism of xenobiotics and its relationship to toxicity/genotoxicity: studies with human lymphocytes.

Most compounds considered to be foreign to the human body are rather hydrophobic and chemically inert. Because of their hydrophobicity, xenobiotics enter the body easily by diffusion through biological membranes, are difficult to excrete in unchanged form in the urine and bile and accumulate in hydrophobic compartments of the cell, including the phospholipid bilayer of membranes, where they can disturb normal cellular functions. In order to transform xenobiotics into products which are more readily excretable, enzymes of detoxication first activate these substances (primarily via the cytochrome P-450 monooxygenase system) to intermediates which are often highly electrophilic and reactive, such as epoxides, free radicals and carbonium ions. These intermediates are then partially inactivated and their solubility in water simultaneously increased through the addition of water (by epoxide hydrolases) or conjugation with glutathione (by glutathione transferases). Finally, an additional increase in water solubility can be achieved by conjugation with, for example, sulfate (via sulfotransferases) and/or glucuronic acid (via UDP-glucuronyltransferases). Unfortunately, reactive intermediates of xenobiotic metabolism which are not inactivated sufficiently rapidly can bind covalently to many nucleophilic groups in the cell, including those on DNA, RNA and protein. Most often, because of various cellular defense mechanisms, such binding causes no serious damage. However, in some cases toxic and/or genotoxic effects may be produced. As an alternative to experimentation with animals, we have examined xenobiotic metabolism in circulating mononuclear leukocytes from human beings. Certain enzymes of detoxication--including membrane-bound and cytosolic epoxide hydrolases and cytosolic glutathione transferases--can be easily measured and characterized in preparations from these cells. Autosomal dominant hereditary differences of at least several hundred-fold in the activity of glutathione transferase mu in circulating human lymphocytes were observed, differences which may be of value in predicting an individual's risk for toxic/genotoxic damage after exposure to certain xenobiotics.