Scientific Background: | Members of the cytochrome P-450 3A (CYP3A) sub-family catalyze the 6β-hydroxylation of testosterone, and the metabolism of a number of drugs such as cyclosporin A (Prod. No. BML-A195), and warfarin. They are inducible by glucocorticoids such as dexamethasome (Prod. No. BML-EI126) and by macrolide antibiotics such as erythromycin and pregnenolone 16α-carbonitrile (U-14975, PCN) (Prod. No. BML- S620). Rat CYP3A1 and CPY3A2 share 89% sequence similarity at the amino acid level and are predominantly located in the liver, principally in the centrilobular region. PCN induces CYP3A1/2 gene expresion in regions of the liver. |