title: Low activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) in liver of Suncus murinus: possible explanation for high sensitivity to alcohol.
abstract: Suncus murinus (suncus) is an animal species highly sensitive to ethanol (Lin, S.-C., Saito, H., Yohro, T. and Shiga, J.,J. Toxicol. Env. Health, 18: 575-587, 1986). To elucidate the mechanism involved in sensitivity to alcohol, we investigated that properties of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) in the suncus in comparison with the rat. The activities of ALDH in microsomes and mitochondria of suncus livers were lower than those in rat livers, although the activity of cytosolic ADH was not different between the suncus and the rat. We propose that the high sensitivity of the suncus to alcohol can be accounted for, at least in part, by the low activity of ALDH in suncus liver.
authors.affiliation: Division of Drug Metabolism, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences Hokkaido University, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuyama
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kamataki
mesh_terms: D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D003600:Cytosol / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007313:Insecta; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology*; D008297:Male; D008862:Microsomes, Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D008930:Mitochondria, Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012788:Shrews / Q000378:metabolism*; D012997:Solvents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
chemical_list: D012997:Solvents; D000431:Ethanol; D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase