Redox Mediation in the Peroxidase-Catalyzed Oxidation of Aminopyrine: Possible Implications for Drug−Drug Interactions

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Abstract
Many drugs, industrial pollutants, and other xenobiotics are known to be oxidized by peroxidases to potentially harmful free-radical intermediates. We have examined the possibility that certain compounds, acting as efficient peroxidase substrates, may stimulate the formation of reactive free radicals by acting as mediators of electron transfer reactions (redox mediators). To explore this hypothesis, we have investigated the interaction of two well-known peroxidase substrates, chlorpromazine and aminopyrine. As shown by ESR and UV-visible spectroscopy, chlorpromazine radical was able to oxidize aminopyrine to aminopyrine cation radical. The rate constant for this rapid, pH-dependent, reaction was estimated to be 1 x 10(7) M-1 s-1 at pH 4.5. Transient-state and steady-state kinetic studies both showed that rate constants for chlorpromazine oxidation to its cation radical by horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were about 100-fold greater than for the corresponding HRP-catalyzed oxidation of aminopyrine to its cation radical. When both aminopyrine and chlorpromazine were present with HRP and H2O2, aminopyrine cation radical formation was stimulated 100-fold. Concomitantly, the accumulation of chlorpromazine cation radical was completely inhibited in the presence of aminopyrine. Similar results were obtained when lactoperoxidase, myeloperoxidase, or the myeloperoxidase mimic HOCl were substituted for HRP. These data suggest that chlorpromazine can act as a redox mediator for peroxidase-catalyzed oxidation of aminopyrine and other chemicals. We suggest that some peroxidase substrates, acting as redox mediators, may stimulate the production of toxic free-radical intermediates from various drugs and other xenobiotics. As such, this may have implications for a number of adverse effects caused by these xenobiotic chemicals.