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Reductive Enzymes

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Concepts in Biochemical Pharmacology

Abstract

Studies on the fate of azo and nitro compounds in the body have had a profound influence on the fields of chemotherapy, toxicology, and drug metabolism. For example, recognition that Prontosil was reductively cleaved to sulfanilamide in the body (Tréfouël et al., 1935) led to the development of a large series of sulfa drugs, as well as to the realization that substances which possess little biological activity in vitro may be transformed in the body to substances which exert potent therapeutic effects. Drugs may also undergo biotransformation to toxic derivatives. For example, it is now accepted that methemoglobinemia caused by certain aromatic nitro compounds and aromatic amines arises from the corresponding phenylhydroxy and nitroso compounds formed by the reduction of the nitro compounds or the N-hydroxylation of the amines. It is also now believed that the hepatomas caused by various azo dyes, including butter yellow, are mediated by N-hydroxylated metabolites.

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Authors
  1. James R. Gillette
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20014, USA

    Bernard B. Brodie  & James R. Gillette  & 

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Gillette, J.R. (1971). Reductive Enzymes. In: Brodie, B.B., Gillette, J.R., Ackerman, H.S. (eds) Concepts in Biochemical Pharmacology. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology / Handbuch der experimentellen Pharmakologie, vol 28 / 2. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-65177-9_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-65177-9_21

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-65179-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-65177-9

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