“…Wild-type mice treated (IP injection) with naphthalene and a CYP2F inhibitor (5-PIP) showed no signs of lung or olfactory toxicity, as compared to the mice treated with naphthalene and no inhibitor where toxicity was observed in lung (hemorrhagic lungs) and olfactory tissue (100% sloughing of olfactory mucosa) (Genter et al�, 2006)� This study has been frequently cited in the literature as support that CYP2F is the CYP involved in metabolic activation of naphthalene to its toxic metabolites in mouse lung� Although these studies are supportive, especially in combination with the immunolocalization studies correlating CYP2F with the naphthalene epoxide at the site of injury in mouse lung, it is important to consider that the CYP2F inhibitor (5-PIP) also inhibits CYP2E1, which is also present in mouse lung and rat nose� Therefore, one needs to consider the possibility that CYP2E1 could be involved in naphthalene metabolism� However, the relative activities of these enzymes toward naphthalene needs consideration� Recombinant CYP2F from mice and rats efficiently generates the naphthalene oxide: CYP2F4 from rats (K M = 3 µM, V max = 107 min −1 ) (Baldwin et al�, 2005); and CYP2F2 from mice (K M = 3 µM, V max = 104 min −1 ) (Shultz et al�, 1999)� We did not find any studies that evaluated the activity of rodent CYP2E1 toward naphthalene� However, recombinant CYP2E1 from humans metabolized naphthalene to its 1-naphthol metabolite at a much lower efficiency (K M = 10�1 µM, V max = 8�4 min −1 ) (Cho et al�, 2006)� These data suggest that CYP2F metabolizes naphthalene more efficiently than CYP2E1, but studies comparing both CYPs in humans and rodents would provide stronger evidence as to the relevance of these two CYPs in various species� Studies in CYP2E1 and CYP2F knockout mice, or with inhibitors specific to CYP2E1, would provide useful information in this regard� Accordingly, as shown in Table 3, the mouse lung data provide "some evidence" that CYP2F is the primary CYP involved in metabolism of naphthalene to the epoxide, but more studies are necessary before we can rule out the involvement of CYP2E1 in metabolic activation of naphthalene to its toxic metabolites in mouse lung� CYP2E1 is present in mouse nasal and lung tissues (Simmonds et al�, 2004;Green et al�, 2001)� One possibility might be that CYP2E1 and CY2F2 are both involved in metabolic activation of naphthalene and cytotoxicity� There is some precedent for considering this possibility; a recent study of 1,1-DCE bioactivation and cytotoxicity in murine Clara cells (Simmonds et al�, 2004) suggested that both CYP2F2 and CYP2E1 are involved in 1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE) bioactivation and lung toxicity� Immunolocalization studies indicated that the rat nasal mucosa (primarily the olfactory epithelium) contains high levels of CYP2F4 (Baldwin et al�, 2004)� In addition, a recent study by Morris and Buckpitt (2009) found that naphthalene metabolism in the rat nose was inhibited after pretreatment with 5-PIP, suggesting that CYP2F is likely responsible, at least in part, for naphthalene metabolism in the rat nose� Therefore, as shown in Table 3, the rat nasal data provide "some evidence" that CYP2F4 is responsible for naphthalene metabo...…”