Evidence for exposure biomarkers in dictamnine‐induced liver injury resulting from metabolic activation in vitro and in mice

Abstract Dictamnine (DTN), a furoquinoline alkaloid isolated from Dictamni Cortex, is responsible for the liver injury caused by Dictamni Cortex and the preparations. Discovering new biomarkers with high specificity and sensitivity for diagnosis and tracing the source of DTN‐induced liver injury is urgently needed. Considering that metabolic activation of DTN has been suggested as a primary trigger initiating hepatotoxicity, the present study aimed to investigate the bio‐activation process of DTN in vitro and in mice and to explore whether the adducts could be developed as exposure biomarkers. When trapping with N ‐acetyl‐cysteine (NAC) and glutathione (GSH) in mouse liver microsomes and CYP3A4 overexpressed L02 cells, two isomers of DTN‐NAC adducts were detected in both systems and one DTN‐GSH adduct was found in mouse liver microsomes. As expected, one DTN‐NAC adduct was also found in plasma and bile of mice with liver injury after DTN exposure. Moreover, mouse liver microsomes were used to simulate the conjugation of serum albumin with metabolically activated DTN. The sole modified peptide 25 DAHKSEVAHR 34 was found, and the oxidative metabolites of DTN might bind to the side chain amino of albumin at Arg34. The above findings not only provided confirmative evidence that DTN was metabolically activated to induce liver injury but also suggested that the adducts had the potential to be developed as exposure biomarkers of DTN‐induced liver injury.