Overview

Abstract

Wastes are produced when foods are converted into raw materials and energy through biochemical reactions occurring in living cells. Medicine used to fight diseases can accumulate in the body and cause unintended effects. Household products containing chemical compounds are used daily. Industrial chemicals and environmental pollutants are present in the air and rivers. And humans are constantly exposed to these foreign compounds. Many of these compounds undergo enzymatic conversion to metabolic intermediates. Many metabolic intermediates of chemical compounds are reactive and are ultimately responsible for their toxicities. The body’s major defense mechanism against xenobiotics is to minimize exposure by speedily removing them from the body. To achieve this goal, the body develops a number of enzyme systems involved in activation and detoxification of foreign compounds.