Comparison of the susceptibility of wild-type and CYP2E1 knockout mice to the hepatotoxic and pneumotoxic effects of styrene and styrene oxide.

Metabolism of styrene by mouse and rat isolated lung cells.

Styrene is pneumotoxic in mice. It is metabolized by pulmonary microsomes of both mouse and rat to styrene oxide (SO), presumed to be the toxic metabolite of styrene, and known to be genotoxic. To determine which pulmonary cell types are responsible for styrene metabolism, and which cytochromes P450 are associated with the bioactivation of styrene, we isolated enriched fractions of mouse and ra...

Critical appraisal of the expression of cytochrome P450 enzymes in human lung and evaluation of the possibility that such expression provides evidence of potential styrene tumorigenicity in humans.

Styrene is widely used with significant human exposure, particularly in the reinforced plastics industry. In mice it is both hepatotoxic and pneumotoxic, and this toxicity is generally thought to be associated with its metabolism to styrene oxide. Styrene causes lung tumors in mice but not in rats. The question is how the tumorigenic effect in mouse lung may relate to the human. This review exa...

Effects of capsaicin in low doses and high doses on the small intestine motor response in wild-type and TRPV1 knockout mice

Investigation of bioactivation and toxicity of styrene in CYP2E1 transgenic cells.

Styrene has been found to be toxic to the respiratory system, and the toxicity of styrene is metabolism-dependent. CYP2E1 is suggested to be one of the cytochrome P450 enzymes responsible for the bioactivation of styrene. Our work focused on the roles of CYP2E1 and epoxide, a metabolite of styrene epoxidation, in the cytotoxicity of styrene. Styrene was found to be more toxic to h2E1 cells than...

Deletion of histidine decarboxylase (HDC) enhances the antinociceptive effects of orexin A in the central nervous system

It has long been established that histamine plays a role as a mediator of inflammation. From numerous studies, it has been well known that the amine has many pharmacological actions on a variety of organs. To evaluate the role of histamine in pain perception, we generated HDC knockout mice using a gene targeting method. Histamine is a hydrophilic autacoid, and in most tissues it is stored and s...