Ramírez-Alcántara V, Montrose MH. Acute murine colitis reduces colonic 5-aminosalicylic acid metabolism by regulation of N-acetyltransferase-2. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 306: G1002-G1010, 2014. First published April 17, 2014 doi:10.1152/ajpgi.00389.2013.-Pharmacotherapy based on 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) is a preferred treatment for ulcerative colitis, but variable patient response to this therapy is observed. Inflammation can affect therapeutic outcomes by regulating the expression and activity of drug-metabolizing enzymes; its effect on 5-ASA metabolism by the colonic arylamine N-acetyltransferase (NAT) enzyme isoforms is not firmly established. We examined if inflammation affects the capacity for colonic 5-ASA metabolism and NAT enzyme expression. 5-ASA metabolism by colonic mucosal homogenates was directly measured with a novel fluorimetric rate assay. 5-ASA metabolism reported by the assay was dependent on Ac-CoA, inhibited by alternative NAT substrates (isoniazid, p-aminobenzoylglutamate), and saturable with Km (5-ASA) ϭ 5.8 M. A mouse model of acute dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) colitis caused pronounced inflammation in central and distal colon, and modest inflammation of proximal colon, defined by myeloperoxidase activity and histology. DSS colitis reduced capacity for 5-ASA metabolism in central and distal colon segments by 52 and 51%, respectively. Use of selective substrates of NAT isoforms to inhibit 5-ASA metabolism suggested that mNAT2 mediated 5-ASA metabolism in normal and colitis conditions. Western blot and real-time RT-PCR identified that proximal and distal mucosa had a decreased mNAT2 protein-to-mRNA ratio after DSS. In conclusion, an acute colonic inflammation impairs the expression and function of mNAT2 enzyme, thereby diminishing the capacity for 5-ASA metabolism by colonic mucosa. drug metabolism; fluorescence; dextran sulfate sodium; myeloperoxidase; kinetics; enzymatic assay; inflammatory bowel disease; enzyme isoform THE TWO MAJOR INFLAMMATORY bowel diseases (IBD), ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease, afflict 1.4 million individuals in the United States (USA) and 2.2 million in Europe (42). To induce and maintain mucosal healing of the colonic mucosa, the major goal of UC therapy is to reduce or eliminate colonic inflammation. For mild to moderate inflammation, therapy based on the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory compound 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) is frequently prescribed. In information compiled by the National Institutes of Health from the 2004 Verispan database of prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies in the USA, 5-ASA or its prodrugs accounted for 44% of Crohn's disease prescriptions and 81% of UC prescriptions (23). It is not well understood how 5-ASA induces its antiinflammatory effect on colonic mucosa, but multiple mechanisms have been proposed, including inhibition of intestinal macrophage chemotaxis (47), inhibition of proinflammatory cytokine release (25), inhibition of cyclooxygenase and prostaglandin pathways (28), inhibition of nuclear fa...