Characterization of rat liver proteins adducted by reactive metabolites of menthofuran.

Pulegone is the major constituent of pennyroyal oil, a folkloric abortifacient that is associated with hepatotoxicity and, in severe cases, death. Cytochrome P450-mediated oxidation of pulegone generates menthofuran, which is further oxidized to form electrophilic reactive intermediates, menthofuran epoxide and the ring-opened γ-ketoenal, both of which can form adducts to hepatocellular proteins. Modification of hepatocellular proteins by the electrophilic reactive intermediates of menthofuran has been implicated in hepatotoxicity caused by pennyroyal oil. Herein, we describe the identification of several proteins that are the likely targets of menthofuran-derived reactive metabolites. These proteins were isolated from the livers of rats treated with a hepatotoxic dose of menthofuran by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D-gel) separation and detected by Western blot analysis using an antiserum developed to detect protein adducts resulting from menthofuran bioactivation. The antibody-reacting proteins were excised from the 2D-gel and subjected to tryptic digestion for analysis of peptide fragments by LC-MS/MS. Although 10 spots were detected by Western blot analysis, only 4 were amenable to characterization by LC-MS/MS: serum albumin, mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2), cytoplasmic malate dehydrogenase (MDH1), and mitochondrial ATP synthase subunit d. No direct adduct was detected, and, therefore, we complemented our analysis with enzyme activity determination. ALDH2 activity decreased by 88%, and ATP synthase complex V activity decreased by 34%, with no activity changes to MDH1. Although the relationship between these reactive metabolite adducted proteins and hepatotoxicity is not clear, these targeted enzymes are known to play critical roles in maintaining cellular homeostasis.

Metabolism and toxicity of menthofuran in rat liver slices and in rats.

Menthofuran is a monoterpene present in mint plants that is oxidized by mammalian cytochrome P450 (CYP) to hepatotoxic metabolites. Evidence has been presented that p-cresol and other unusual oxidative products are metabolites of menthofuran in rats and that p-cresol may be responsible in part for the hepatotoxicity caused by menthofuran [ Madyastha, K. M. and Raj, C. P. (1992) Drug Metab. Dispos. 20, 295 - 301]. In the present study, several oxidative metabolites of menthofuran were characterized in rat and human liver microsomes and in rat liver slices exposed to cytotoxic concentrations of menthofuran. Metabolites that were identified were monohydroxylation products of the furanyl and cyclohexyl groups, mintlactones and hydroxymintlactones, a reactive γ-ketoenal, and a glutathione conjugate. A similar spectrum of metabolites was found in urine 24 h after the administration of hepatotoxic doses of menthofuran to rats. In no case was p-cresol (or any of the other reported unusual oxidative metabolites of menthofuran) detected above background concentrations that were well below concentrations of p-cresol that cause cytotoxicity in rat liver slices. Thus, the major metabolites responsible for the hepatotoxic effects of menthofuran appear to be a γ-ketoenal and/or epoxides formed by oxidation of the furan ring.