title: Elevations of hepatic quinone reductase, glutathione, and alpha- and mu-class glutathione S-transferase isoforms in mice with chronic hepatitis: a compensatory response to injury.
abstract: Hepatic levels of GSH and Phase II detoxication enzymes were compared to biochemical and histological indices of hepatic damage in 4- to 76-week-old nontransgenic mice and their transgenic littermates that overexpress the hepatitis B virus large envelope protein. The mice were fed a low-sucrose AIN-76A diet ad libitum. Hepatic-specific activities of quinone reductase (QR) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) were increased 2- to 10-fold beginning at 12 weeks of age in transgenic mice and correlated with increases in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (r = 0.84 and 0.59, respectively). Quantitative histological analysis demonstrated that apoptosis was the predominant feature in 4- to 12-week-old transgenic mice, whereas necrosis and inflammation predominated at later time points. Surprisingly, 3-fold elevations in ALT were observed beginning at 52 weeks of age in nontransgenic mice, and hepatic-specific activities of QR and GST were also modestly increased in elderly nontransgenic animals. In contrast to transgenic mice, apoptosis was not a prominent feature. The strongest histological correlates to ALT in 4- to 76-week-old nontransgenic mice were necrosis and inflammation (r > 0.96), which in turn may have been evoked by hepatic fat accumulation. Profiles of specific GST isoforms were quantitated chromatographically and identified by sequencing tryptic digests. The Ya1 subunit of alpha-class GST was markedly increased from undetectable levels in transgenic mice, while more modest increases were observed in nontransgenic mice more than 1 year old. Fivefold elevations of the Yb1 subunit, a constitutively expressed mu-class GST, were found in transgenic mice older than 4 weeks of age, while 2-fold increases were observed in nontransgenic animals that were more than 1 year old. These studies demonstrate that selected increases in Phase II detoxication enzymes are a stereotyped response to chronic hepatitis that is strikingly reminiscent of the treatment of mice with anticarcinogenic enzyme inducers.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10021, USA.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Roebuck
authors.forename: F V
authors.initials: FV
authors.lastname: Chisari
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Montali
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Prochaska
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015870:Gene Expression; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism*; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000378:metabolism*; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016660:NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase (Quinone) / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D007527:Isoenzymes; D016660:NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase (Quinone); D005982:Glutathione Transferase; D000410:Alanine Transaminase; D005978:Glutathione