In vitro effect of beta-lactam antibiotics and N-methyltetrazolethiol on microsomal vitamin K epoxide reductase in rats.

Liver microsomal vitamin K epoxide reductase activity was determined by measuring the formation of menaquinone-4 from the substrate menaquinone-4 2,3-epoxide. The enzyme was active when dithiothreitol (DTT) was used as a reducing agent, and the activity increased gradually with increasing concentrations of DTT. Glutathione and cysteine also functioned as reductants, but these physiological reductants showed less than 15% of the activity detected with 0.5 mM DTT. Addition of various beta-lactam antibiotics to the assay mixture for vitamin K epoxide reductase caused a slight inhibition of the activity. N-Methyltetrazolethiol (NMTT) and other heterocyclic thiol compounds also inhibited the enzyme activity in vitro depending on their concentrations. Most of these antibiotics and heterocyclic thiol compounds inhibited the enzyme activity only 10-25% in the in vitro assay system even when higher concentrations were added (5-10 mM). Among the compounds tested, methyl-thiadiazolethiol was the only compound that caused 50% inhibition of the enzyme activity. NMTT-induced inhibition was diminished gradually by increasing DTT concentrations. Kinetic analysis of the inhibitory action of heterocyclic thiol compounds showed competitive inhibition against the reductant DTT and non-competitive inhibition against the substrate. On the other hand, warfarin, a typical anticoagulant, showed different patterns in the inhibitory action: non-competitive inhibition against DTT and mixed-type inhibition against the substrate.