Otonecine

Characterization of rat liver microsomal metabolites of clivorine, an hepatotoxic otonecine-type pyrrolizidine alkaloid.[Pubmed:11095586]

Drug Metab Dispos. 2000 Dec;28(12):1475-83.

The metabolism of the hepatotoxic Otonecine-type pyrrolizidine alkaloid (PA), clivorine, was investigated using rat liver microsomes. The metabolites dehydroretronecine (DHR), 7-glutathionyldehydroretronecine (7-GSH-DHR), 7, 9-diglutathionyldehydroretronecine (7,9-diGSH-DHR), and clivoric acid were identified using chromatographic and mass spectrometric analyses. NMR characterizations were also performed on the isolated clivoric acid and the synthetic 7-GSH-DHR and 7,9-diGSH-DHR. The results indicated that the two glutathione (GSH) conjugates were formed by reaction of the unstable toxic pyrrolic ester with GSH added in the microsomal incubation system, whereas DHR was generated from hydrolysis of the unstable pyrrolic ester, and that clivoric acid was produced from all these further conversions of the unstable pyrrolic ester. Furthermore, tissue-bound pyrroles were also determined to be present after microsomal incubation of clivorine. Clivoric acid has not been previously identified, and DHR and 7, 9-diGSH-DHR were found, for the first time, as metabolites of an Otonecine-type PA, while 7-GSH-DHR was previously reported by us to be a microsomal metabolite of clivorine. The in vitro metabolic pathway of clivorine was delineated to be the initial formation of the unstable pyrrolic ester, which then may undergo hydrolysis, GSH conjugations, or covalent binding with hepatic tissues that may lead to hepatotoxicity. The present definitive identification of four pyrrolic ester-related metabolites of clivorine and indirect determination of bound pyrroles provide the strongest evidence to date to support the hypothesis that the formation of an unstable pyrrolic ester plays a key role in Otonecine-type PA-induced hepatotoxicity.

Metabolic formation of DHP-derived DNA adducts from a representative otonecine type pyrrolizidine alkaloid clivorine and the extract of Ligularia hodgsonnii hook.[Pubmed:15144228]

Chem Res Toxicol. 2004 May;17(5):702-8.

Plants that contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are widely distributed, and PAs have been shown to be genotoxic and tumorigenic in experimental animals. Our recent mechanistic studies indicated that riddelliine, a tumorigenic retronecine type PA, induced tumors via a genotoxic mechanism mediated by the formation of a set of eight 6,7-dihydro-7-hydroxy-1-hydroxymethyl-5H-pyrrolizine (DHP)-derived DNA adducts. However, it is not known if this mechanism is general to PAs of other types. In this study, we report that the metabolism of clivorine, a tumorigenic Otonecine type PA, by F344 rat liver microsomes results in DHP formation. When incubations were conducted with clivorine in the presence of calf thymus DNA, eight DHP-derived DNA adducts were formed. The Ligularia hodgsonnii Hook plant, an antitussive traditional Chinese medicine, was found to contain Otonecine type PAs with clivorine being predominant. DHP and DHP-derived DNA adducts were also obtained when microsomal incubations were conducted with extracts of L. hodgsonnii Hook. This is the first report that DHP-derived DNA adducts are formed from the metabolic activation of Otonecine type PA and that these DHP-derived DNA adducts are potential biomarkers of PA exposure and PA-induced tumorigenicity. These results also provide evidence that the principal metabolic activation pathway of clivorine leading to liver genotoxicity and tumorigenicity is (i) formation of the corresponding dehydropyrrolizidine (pyrrolic) derivative through oxidative N-demethylation of the necine base followed by ring closure and dehydration and (ii) binding of the pyrrolic metabolite to DNA leading to the DNA adduct formation and tumor initiation.