The inhibition of cytochrome P450 2A13-catalyzed NNK metabolism by NAT, NAB and nicotine.

4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) is considered to be the most carcinogenic of the four tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) and it needs to be metabolically activated to exert its carcinogenic effect on humans. For the simultaneous intake of NNK and other compounds with similar molecular structures in the context of tobacco smoke, whether (R,S)-N-nitrosoanatabine (NAT), (R,S)-N-nitrosoanabasine (NAB) and nicotine contribute to the inhibitory potency of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme-catalyzed NNK metabolism or not needs to be investigated. In the in vitro study, 4-oxo-4-(3-pyridyl) butanal (OPB), 4-hydroxy-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (HPB) and 4-oxo-4-(3-pyridyl) butanoic acid (OPBA) were established as the products of the CYP2A13-catalyzed NNK metabolism and the kinetic parameters were calculated from the Michaelis-Menten equation. Addition of NAT, NAB or nicotine resulted in a competitive inhibition for the NNK metabolism catalyzed by CYP2A13. The inhibition constant Ki values were calculated to be 0.21 μM (NAT), 0.23 μM (NAB) and 8.51 μM (nicotine) for OPB formation; 0.71 μM (NAT), 0.87 μM (NAB) and 25.01 μM (nicotine) for HPB formation and 0.36 μM (NAT), 0.50 μM (NAB) and 6.57 μM (nicotine) for OPBA formation, respectively. In addition, the study of the transformation of the three metabolites revealed OPB was not only an end product but also an intermediate product of the CYP2A13-catalyzed NNK metabolism. These results suggest that structurally similar tobacco constituents with weak or no carcinogenicity influence the metabolic activation of NNK, which interferes with its carcinogenicity to some extent.