Effect of beta-naphthoflavone on mitochondrial supply of reducing equivalents for monooxygenation in periportal and pericentral regions of the liver lobule.

Rates of 7-ethoxycoumarin O-deethylation were determined in periportal and pericentral regions of the liver lobule in livers from corn oil- and beta-naphthoflavone-treated rats by monitoring the conversion of nonfluorescent 7-ethoxycoumarin to fluorescent 7-hydroxycoumarin with micro-light guides. Rates of monooxygenation in livers from fed, corn oil-treated rats of 1.4 mumol/g/hr were increased markedly to around 21 mumol/g/hr in both regions of the liver lobule after treatment of rats with beta-naphthoflavone. Fasting or treatment with 6-aminonicotinamide diminished the generation of NADPH by the pentose cycle, whereas KCN decreased NADPH generation via mitochondria. Fasting and 6-aminonicotinamide treatment decreased monooxygenation about 0.5 mumol/g/hr in both regions of the liver lobule in livers from corn oil-treated rats and around 5 mumol/g/hr in livers from beta-naphthoflavone-treated rats. KCN decreased rates about 0.5 mumol/g/hr in both regions of the lobule in livers from fed, corn oil-treated rats and nearly completely in livers from fasted rats. Rates declined from 14 to less than 2 mumol/g/hr in livers from fasted, beta-naphthoflavone-treated rats following 30-40 min of perfusion with cyanide. These data indicate that mitochondrial oxidations are the predominant source of reducing equivalents for monooxygenation in both regions of the liver lobule in livers from beta-naphthoflavone-treated rats. Activation of urea synthesis by infusion of ammonia, a process requiring mitochondrial NADPH, inhibited the metabolism of 7-ethoxycoumarin by 30%. Malate, which is a substrate for the malic enzyme shuttle mechanism involved in the transfer of reducing equivalents from the mitochondria to the cytosol, increased 10-fold during infusion of 7-ethoxycoumarin in livers from beta-naphthoflavone-treated rats but less than 3-fold in livers from control rats. Taken together, these data indicate that high rates of 7-hydroxycoumarin production in livers from beta-naphthoflavone-treated rats are sustained by increased rates of NADPH generation from mitochondrial sources.