Biological Basis of Detoxication

Biological Basis of Detoxication focuses on the biological processes involved in detoxication, with emphasis on the biochemistry of the removal of xenobiotics from an organism. Topics range from the formation of toxic metabolites and compounds that are not metabolized at all to the tissue distribution and nutritional considerations, the kinetics and mechanisms of the metabolic and excretory processes, and the integration of xenobiotic metabolism in the activation and detoxication of carcinogens. Organized into 14 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the enzymatic basis for the metabolic activation of foreign compounds in forming reactive chemical intermediates. The first few chapters discuss the identification of reactive electrophiles derived from xenobiotics, intratissue distribution of activating and detoxicating enzymes, enzymatic and non-enzymatic modes of xenobiotic metabolism, and unmetabolized compounds. The middle chapters explore the biological basis of detoxication of oxygen free radicals, physiologic and kinetic aspects of the fate of xenobiotics, excretion of xenobiotics, and effects of nutrition on detoxication. The remaining chapters look at the relationships between the enzymes of detoxication and host defense mechanisms, metabolic basis of target organ toxicity, the enzymatic factor in selective toxicity, and intraindividual and interindividual variations in rates of hepatic metabolism of exogenous chemicals. Pharmacologists, toxicologists, and biochemists will find this book highly informative.