Abstract

We determined whether chronic dosing with phencyclidine (PCP) could affect the in vitro function of liver microsomal enzymes in male Sprague-Dawley rats. PCP chronic dosing of rats (n = 3 per group) for 3 days with 2.5, 10 and 18 mg/kg/day caused a dose-dependent decrease (23, 36 and 53%, respectively) in the ability of the microsomal enzymes to bind covalently PCP metabolites. The 10- and 18-mg/kg/day dosing groups were significantly different from the 3-day saline-infused control group (P < .05). The results from time-dependent dosing studies indicated PCP covalent binding was significantly reduced (P < .05) in rats (n = 3 per group) infused with 18 mg/kg/day of PCP for 1, 2, 3, 4 and 10 days. Subsequently, it returned to near control values in rats infused for 20 days. In parallel with the time-dependent decreases in covalent binding, the concentrations of at least three phase I PCP mono- and dihydroxylated metabolites were also significantly reduced (P < .05) at the earlier time periods of dosing (3 and 10 days), but the rate of their formation returned to near normal values by 20 days of dosing. Total cytochrome P450 content did not differ from the control groups at any of the doses or time points. As dose- and time-dependent decreases in covalent binding suggested a specific metabolic pathway or isoenzyme was affected, we studied the affect on specific isoenzyme pathways. For these studies a series of cytochrome P450 inhibitors were used.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)