Influence of inducers of monooxygenases on cytotoxic efficiency of ellipticine on leukemia L1210 cells.

The effects of some inducers of microsomal cytochrome P450-dependent monooxygenases on the metabolic bioactivation and the cytotoxicity of the antitumoral drug ellipticine (ELPT) were studied. Rate of growth of leukemia L1210 cells was measured in vitro in the absence and presence of ELPT or measured when the ELPT was metabolically transformed by noninbred Sprague-Dawley rat liver microsomes. The animals used were either untreated or pretreated by various inducers such as phenobarbital, 3-methylcholanthrene, beta-naphthoflavone, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, Aroclor 1254, or ELPT. The transformation of ELPT into its two main metabolites, 9-hydroxyellipticine (9-OHE) and 7-hydroxyellipticine, was studied and measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography in conjunction with the determination of cytotoxic activity. A large variability was observed in the bioactivation and cytotoxic efficiency of ELPT mediated by the different microsomal preparations: The more P448 and/or P1-450 forms of cytochrome were induced, the more the 9-OHE was produced and the more the cytotoxicity toward L1210 cells was enhanced. These features were compared with those elicited by the activation of cyclophosphamide, which was transformed into cytotoxic metabolites by the cytochrome P450 form specifically induced by phenobarbital-type inducers.