Abbreviations
CIScytokine-inducible SH2-containing protein CYP cytochrome P450 GH growth hormone GHR GH receptor HNF hepatocyte nuclear factor 3MC 3-methylcholanthrene MSG monosodium glutamate SOCS suppressor of cytokine signaling protein STAT signal transducer and activator of transcription
IntroductionInterindividual differences in response to drugs are well documented [1][2][3] Various factors, including sex [4][5][6][7], contribute to the variability in drug response As first reported in the 1930s, female rats respond to a lower dosage of amobarbital [8] and experience a longer duration of action of this barbiturate [9] than male rats In the 1960s and 1970s, sex differences in hepatic drug metabolism were identified using liver microsomes assayed in vitro using prototypic phase I cytochrome P450 (CYP) drug substrates, such as ethylmorphine, benzo[a]pyrene, and hexobarbital (Fig 111) [10-13] These studies showed that the sex dependence of hepatic P450 metabolism is most striking in the rat, where sex differences in metabolic rates can be fivefold or more with some drug substrates, even though the total liver P450 content is only ~ 20 % higher in males compared to females (Fig 111) Research carried out in the 1980s resolved this discrepancy with the discovery that a subset of the multiple drug-metabolizing P450 enzymes in rat liver [14, 15] is expressed in a highly sex-dependent manner [16] Many P450 enzymes in the CYP gene superfamily are active in foreign compound metabolism, in particular, genes in families CYP1, CYP2, and CYP3 These three families encompass 23 CYP genes (human), 50 CYP genes (rat), and 61 CYP genes (mouse) [17], and collectively carry out essentially all of the phase I CYP metabolic reactions in mammalian liver A subset of these hepatic P450s is expressed in a sex-dependent manner subject to endocrine control [18] The sex dependence of liver P450 enzyme expression has been widely studied at the gene (RNA) level in the rat and mouse models, but has also been reported for other species, including humans Human liver P450 metabolism is associated with significant male-female differences in the elimination pharmacokinetics of many drugs [4, 7, P R Ortiz de Montellano et al (eds), Cytochrome P450,