Affinity of drugs for cytochrome P-450 determined by inhibition of p-nitrophenetole O-deethylation by rat liver microsomes

The rate of conversion of p-nitrophenetole to p-nitrophenol by rat liver microsomes was studied. Inhibition of the reaction by CO and by SKF 525A and the absolute dependence on NADPH and oxygen indicate that cytochrome P-450 catalyzes the reaction. The apparent Km for oxygen was 0.07 microM. Furthermore, cytochrome b5 seemed to be involved in the formation of p-nitrophenol. The effect on p-nitrophenol formation of drugs known to be involved in drug interaction in clinical practice was studied. There was a competitive inhibition by phenytoin (inhibitor constant, Ki, 30 microM), disulfiram (Ki, 2 microM) and chloramphenicol (Ki, 20 microM), whereas a mixed-type inhibition by isoniazid was observed (Ki, 1,3 mM and Kii, 10,6 mM).