Genetic polymorphism of CYP2A6 is one of the potential factors determining tobacco-related cancer risk

摘要

While we studied pharmacokinetics of SM-12502 which was under development as an anti-PAF agent, we found three subjects showing a slow metabolic phenotype in its pharmacokinetics. Analyzing the genes for CYP2A6 from the three subjects, we discovered that the three subjects possessed the whole CYP2A6 gene deletion (CYP2A6*4C), a novel genetic polymorphism of the CYP2A6 gene. Genetically engineered Salmonella YG7108 cells expressing human CYP2A6 or CYP2E1 together with the NADPH-CYP reductase were established in our laboratory to compare the mutagen-producing capacity of these enzymes for various N-nitrosamines. We found that CYP2E1 was responsible for the metabolic activation of N-nitrosamines with relatively short alkyl chains, whereas CYP2A6 was involved in the metabolic activation of N-nitrosamines possessing relatively bulky alkyl chains such as a tobacco-specific nitrosamine, NNK, which has been known to cause lung tumor in rodents. Thus, to examine a hypothesis that individuals possessing the CYP2A6*4C have the reduced risk of lung cancer due to the lack of the capacity of the metabolic activation of certain carcinogens in tobacco smoke, a case-control study was performed.