Oxidants from nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase are involved in triggering cell proliferation in the liver due to peroxisome proliferators.

It was shown that 4-chloro-6-(2,3-xylidino)-2-pyrimidinylthio acetic acid (Wy-14,643), a potent peroxisome proliferator, caused rapid oxidant-dependent activation of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) in Kupffer cells in vivo and activated superoxide production by isolated Kupffer cells. Here, we tested the hypothesis that NADPH oxidase (NADPH OX) is the source of oxidants increased by Wy-14,643. Indeed, both activation of NF-kappaB and increases in cell proliferation due to a single dose of Wy-14,643 (100 mg/kg) were prevented completely when rats were pretreated with diphenyleneiodonium (1 mg/kg), an inhibitor of NADPH OX. p47phox is a critical subunit of NADPH OX; therefore, p47phox knockout mice were used to specifically address the hypothesis of NADPH OX involvement. In livers of wild-type mice, Wy-14,643 activated NF-kappaB, followed by an increase in mRNA for tumor necrosis factor a. Importantly, these changes did not occur in p47phox knockouts. Moreover, when Kupffer cells were treated with Wy-14,643 in vitro, superoxide production was increased in cells from wild-type but not p47phox-null mice. Finally, when mice were fed a Wy-14,643-containing (0.1%) diet for 7 days, the increase in liver weight and cell proliferation caused by Wy-14,643 in wild-type mice was blocked in p47phox-null mice. Combined, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that Wy-14,643 activates NADPH OX, which leads to NF-kappaB-mediated production of mitogens that causes hepatocellular proliferation characteristic of this class of nongenotoxic carcinogens.