Cadmium-mediated inhibition of testicular heme oxygenase activity: the role of NADPH-cytochrome c (P-450) reductase.

The concerted activity of two microsomal enzymes, heme oxygenase and NADPH-cytochrome c (P-450) reductase, is required for isomer-specific oxidation of heme molecule; heme oxygenase is commonly believed to be rate limiting in this activity. In this report, we provide evidence strongly suggesting the rate-limiting role of the reductase in oxidation of heme molecule in rat testis. In the testis and the liver of rats treated with Cd (20 mumol/kg, sc, 24 h) heme oxygenase activity, assessed by the formation of bilirubin, was decreased by 50% and increased by 7-fold, respectively. In these animals, the reductase activity was decreased by nearly 75% in the testis, but remained unchanged in the liver. Similarly, the reductase activity in the liver was not altered when heme oxygenase activity was increased by 20-fold in response to bromobenzene treatment. Addition of purified testicular reductase preparation (purified over 4000-fold), or hepatic reductase, to the testicular microsomes of Cd-treated rats obliterated the Cd-mediated inhibition of heme oxygenase activity. The chromatographic separation of heme oxygenase and the reductase of the testicular microsomal fractions revealed that the reductase activity was markedly decreased (75%) while the heme oxygenase activity, when assessed in the presence of exogenous reductase, was not affected by in vivo Cd treatment. In vitro, the membrane-bound reductase preparation obtained from the testis was more sensitive to the inhibitory effect of Cd than the liver preparation. However, the purified reductase preparations from the testis and the liver exhibited a similar degree of sensitivity to Cd. Based on the molar ratio of heme oxygenase to the reductase in the microsomal membranes of the liver and the testis it appeared that the testicular heme oxygenase, which is predominantly HO-2 isoform, interacts with the reductase less effectively than HO-1; in the induced liver, heme oxygenase is predominantly the HO-1 isoform. It is suggested that due to the low abundance of NADPH-cytochrome c (P-450) reductase and the apparently lower affinity of the enzyme for HO-2, the reductase exerts a regulatory action on heme oxygenase activity in the testis.