1994 Volume 9 Issue supplement Pages 160-163
The inducing activities of picrotoxin and strychnine were studied in rats. Inducibility was estimated by measuring P450 content, metabolizing activities toward benzphetamine, aniline, benzo[a]pyrene and testosterone, and by immunoblot analysis using anti-CYP2B1 antibody. Picrotoxin and the components, picrotoxinin and picrotin, equally induced hepatic CYP2B1 and 2B2. The magnitude of the induction was comparable to phenobarbital-induction. Strychnine and the analogue, brucine, with low toxicity also induced CYP2B1/2, although the extent was less than that of PB. Interestingly, these alkaloids induced CYP2B3 as well as CYP2B1/2. Based on these findings together with a recent concept, Animal-Plant Warfare, the evolution of CYP2B subfamily P450 is discussed.
