Age but not gender selectively affects expression of individual cytochrome P450 proteins in human liver.

Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to examine the influence of age, gender and environmental variables on the hepatic content of cytochromes P450 (CYP, P450) 1A2, 2C, 2E1 and 3A in 71 subjects; 21 with histologically normal livers and 50 with chronic liver disease. There was a clear negative association between age and total P450 content, NADPH-cytochrome c reductase activity and levels of 2E1 and 3A proteins. 1A2 and 2C proteins were unaltered with advancing age. Gender did not influence the expression of any of the CYP proteins. Cigarette smoking was associated with enhanced levels of 1A2, but effects of drug ingestion and alcohol consumption were not apparent in this study, probably because of case selection. It is concluded that age but not gender is a constitutional factor that influences the hepatic content of cytochrome P450 and selected CYP proteins.