Endotoxin-mediated cholestasis stems from impaired hepatobiliary transport of bile acids and organic anions due to altered expression and activity of transporters, including Oatp, Mrp, Ntcp, and Bsep.

ABSTRACT:This article is a report on a symposium sponsored by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and held at the Experimental Biology 07 meeting in Washington, DC. The presentations discussed the phenomenology, clinical consequences, and underlying mechanisms of cytochrome P450 and drug transporter regulation by inflammatory and infectious stimuli. Although considerable insights into the links between inflammatory mediators and altered hepatic drug clearance pathways have been gained from previous studies with acute inflammatory stimuli, this symposium highlighted recent advances in understanding how these processes operate in other organs and chronic inflammatory states relevant to human diseases. The development of mouse models of live bacterial infection provides excellent opportunities to explore the impact of infection on drug metabolism beyond the well characterized effects of bacterial endotoxin. Altered levels of cytochromes P450 and especially drug transporters due to inflammation in brain, intestine, and placenta have significant implications for the use of many drugs in diverse clinical settings. The consequences of inflammatory cytokine production by tumors for drug safety and efficacy in cancer patients were outlined. Repression of drug clearance pathways by tumor-derived cytokines may result in extreme toxicity to chemotherapy, compromising treatment of many cancers. It is fitting that, in honoring the career contributions and achievements of Dr. Kenneth W. Renton, this symposium reinforced the clinical relevance of this field.Inflammation regulates the expression, activity, and functions of many drug-metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters. Although impairment of drug-metabolizing enzyme activities during inflammation has been known to occur for half a century, regulation of transporters by inflammation was recognized relatively recently, in the last decade. Although the regulation of both cytochrome P450s (P450s) and drug transporters has profound implications for clinical drug therapy in disease states, research on inflammation in drug metabolism and transporters has tended to proceed in parallel. This symposium was organized to bring the areas together to identify commonalities and differences in the regulation of transporters and drug-metabolizing enzymes and to promote cross-fertilization of knowledge. It is appropriate then, that this symposium also recognized the career and contributions of Dr. Kenneth W. Renton on the occasion of his retirement.The diverse presentations on regulation of both P450 enzymes and drug transporters revealed that the regulation of both systems in inflammation, infection, and cancer have much in common. In the face of a global inflammatory stimulus such as bacterial endotoxin

Inflammation and proinflammatory cytokines suppress the expression of several hepatic transporters and metabolic enzymes, often resulting in cholestatic liver disease. However, mechanism(s) of this down-regulation have not been fully elucidated. As the pregnane X receptor (PXR) is involved in inducing many of these hepatic proteins, it is possible that PXR is also involved in their down-regulation during inflammation. Thus, we compared the effect of inflammation on hepatic gene regulation in wild-type (PXR ϩ/ϩ ) versus PXR-null (PXR Ϫ/Ϫ ) mice. Treatment of PXR ϩ/ϩ but not PXR Ϫ/Ϫ mice with the PXR activators 5-pregnen-3␤-ol-20-one-16␣-carbonitrile (PCN) or 17␤-hydroxy-11␤-[4-dimethylamino phenyl]-17␣-[1-propynyl] estra-4,9-dien-3-one (RU486) resulted in increased mRNA levels of bsep, mdr1a, mrp2, mrp3, oatp2, and cyp3a11, indicating involvement of PXR in their regulation. Significantly lower mRNA levels of bsep, mdr2, mrp2, mrp3, ntcp, oatp2, and cyp3a11 were found in endotoxin-treated PXR ϩ/ϩ mice. In endotoxin-treated PXR Ϫ/Ϫ mice, the extent of mrp2 suppression was significantly diminished. Changes in MRP2 expression were supported by Western blot analysis. Although interleukin (IL)-6 imposed significant decreases in the expression of bsep, mrp2, and cyp3a11 in PXR ϩ/ϩ mice, this was not observed in PXR Ϫ/Ϫ mice. Of note, significantly lower levels of PXR mRNA and protein were detected in endotoxin-and IL-6-treated PXR ϩ/ϩ mice. In addition, endotoxin and IL-6 were also able to suppress PCN-mediated induction of bsep, mrp2, cyp3a11, and PXR. Taken together, our results suggest that PXR plays a role in the down-regulation of several hepatic proteins during inflammation.Endotoxin-induced sepsis, viral infections, and other inflammatory conditions are a relatively frequent cause of intrahepatic cholestasis in patients (Trauner et al., 1999). Disruptions in the hepatic accumulation and excretion of bile salts and acids occur due to down-regulation of both basolateral uptake [Na ϩ taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP), organic anion transporting polypeptide 2 (OATP2)] and canalicular efflux [bile salt export pump (BSEP), multidrug resistance associated protein (MRP2), P-glycoprotein, multidrug resistance (MDR1)] transport systems. The molecular mechanisms involved in this down-regulation have not been fully elucidated. Activation of nuclear receptor networks including the liver X receptor, farnesoid X receptor

Our recent studies have shown that chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects the pharmacokinetics (PKs) of cytochrome P450 (CYP)2D6‐metabolized drugs, whereas effects were less evident on CYP3A4/5. Therefore, the effect of CKD on the disposition of CYP1A2‐metabolized, CYP2C8‐metabolized, CYP2C9‐metabolized, CYP2C19‐metabolized, and organic anion‐transporting polypeptide (OATP)‐transported drugs was investigated. We identified dedicated CKD studies with 6, 5, 6, 4, and 12 “model” substrates for CYP1A2, CYP2C8, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, and OATP, respectively. Our analyses suggest that clearance of OATP substrates decreases as kidney function declines. Similar trends were seen for CYP2C8; but overlap between some CYP2C8 and OATP substrates highlights that their interplay needs further investigation. In contrast, the effect of CKD on CYP1A2, CYP2C9, and CYP2C19 was variable and modest compared to CYP2C8 and OATP. This improved understanding of elimination‐pathway‐dependency in CKD is important to inform the need and conduct of PK studies in these patients for nonrenally eliminated drugs.

Inflammation-induced changes in the pharmacokinetics and dynamics of numerous drugs have been reported. Altered drug disposition during inflammatory disease has traditionally been ascribed primarily to changes in drug metabolism and protein binding. Emerging evidence within the last decade, however, has demonstrated that the inflammatory response affects the expression of several important drug transporters and these changes significantly impact the disposition and activity of drug substrates.