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J Fishman

Publications and source records attributed to J Fishman.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

3-Methylene-substituted androgens as novel aromatization inhibitors. Evidence of a requirement for C-3 oxygen in C-19 hydroxylations.

Substitution of a methylene group for the C-3 oxygen in androstenedione, testosterone, and the corresponding 19-hydroxy and 19-oxo derivatives results in a new category of inhibitors of estrogen biosynthesis by human placental microsomes. The inhibition is of the competitive type with the most effective inhibitors being the 17-ketonic compounds, 3-methyleneandrost-4-en-17-one, 19-hydroxy-3-methyleneandrost-4-en-17-one, and 3-methylene-19-oxoandrost-4-en-17-one with apparent Ki values of 4.7, 13, and 24 nM, respectively. The 3-methylene derivatives of androstenedione and 19-hydroxyandrostenedione were effective substrates for the placental microsomal 17 beta-hydroxy-steroid oxidoreductase but were only marginally hydroxylated at the C-19 position to the respective 19-hydroxy and 19-oxo derivatives. The 3-methylene analogs are thus competitive inhibitors of aromatization but are not substrates for this enzyme complex. Time-dependent inhibition of aromatization by 10 beta-difluoromethylestr-4-ene-3,17-dione and 10 beta-(2-propynyl)estr-4-ene,3,17-dione was abolished by substitution of a methylene function for the C-3 oxygen, suggesting that the presence of an oxygen at C-3 is required for an oxidative transformation at C-19, an initial step in aromatization. The essential role of the C-19 hydroxylation in aromatization is supported by the observation that the 3-methylene derivatives of 19-hydroxy- and 19-oxoandrostenedione showed time-dependent inhibition, but the corresponding 19-methyl compound did not. The 3-methylene androgens are potent inhibitors of placental aromatization but are themselves only marginal substrates for the enzyme. Their high affinity for and inertness to the placental aromatase complex makes them valuable probes of the aromatization process.

Androstenedione

Estrogen formation in human prostatic tissue from patients with and without benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Prostatic tissue removed at the time of cystoprostatectomy was separated into periurethral and peripheral zones. Homogenized tissue was incubated with [1,2,6,7(3)H] androstenedione in the presence or absence of an aromatase inhibitor, 4-hydroxyandrostenedione (4-OHAD) and a 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor 4-MA (N,N-diethyl-4-methyl-3-oxo-4-aza-5 alpha-androstane 17 beta-carboxamide). Estrogen formation was determined by reverse isotope dilution of [3H] estrone and [3H] estradiol and crystallization to constant specific activity. Control incubations were carried out in parallel utilizing heated prostatic tissue. Total estrogens produced in the periurethral zone in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) was 223 fmol/mg protein/hr (SE +/- 57) compared to 102 fmol (SE +/- 17) in patients without BPH. Estrogen formation in the peripheral zone was 175 fmol (SE +/- 69) and 105 fmol (SE +/- 26) in patients with and without BPH, respectively. The prostatic aromatase exhibits Michaelis-Menton kinetics with an apparent Km of 90 nM. 4-OHAD inhibited aromatization in the prostatic tissue by 57-93%. Aromatization was also strongly inhibited by 4-MA, indicating that 4-MA is a potent aromatase as well as a 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor in this tissue. These results suggest that aromatization of androgens to estrogens in the human prostate proceeds at a substantial rate and that local estrogen formation could preexist and be a factor in the etiology of BPH and prostatic cancer.

Adult

16 alpha-hydroxylation of estradiol: a possible risk marker for breast cancer.

From these results we may conclude that estradiol 16 alpha-hydroxylation is highly correlated with tumor incidence, and that the reaction is partly regulated by MMTV and the rest by genetic influences. Elevated hydroxylation appears to be an autosomal dominant trait that is highly specific for estradiol. It is also pertinent that the product of the 16 alpha-hydroxyestrone reaction is a potent estrogen that is capable of binding covalently to amino acids and nucleotides, including the estrogen receptor molecule. The results obtained in these studies establish the usefulness of the mouse model for studying the interrelationship between enhanced 16-hydroxylation of estradiol and the incidence of mammary tumors.

Age Factors

Effect of catechol estrogens on the preovulatory content of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone in the median eminence of the rat.

Cycling rats injected with 2-hydroxyestrone or 2-hydroxyestradiol at 09.00 or 10.00 h in the morning of proestrus do not express the normal preovulatory LH surge in the afternoon of the day. The LHRH content of the median eminence in control animals decreases sharply in the afternoon from elevated noon and morning levels. The catechol estrogen-treated rats fail to show the decrease. Thus the catechol estrogens block the LH surge at its usual time by influencing the changes in the concentration of LHRH in the median eminence on proestrus. Since the catechol estrogens have short biological half-lives, their effect on the LHRH content in the afternoon must originate in the morning at the time of the endogenous estradiol (E2) peak. These results have implications in the physiological processes responsible for the positive feedback of estradiol on the preovulatory LH surge in the rat.

Animals

Inhibition of the preovulatory prolactin surge in the rat by catechol estrogens: functional and temporal specificity.

Catechol estrogens, administered iv to cycling rats on the morning of proestrus, were able to block the preovulatory PRL surge on the afternoon of the same day. Only catechol estrogens with a low affinity for the estrogen receptor, such as 2-hydroxyestrone and 2-hydroxyestradiol-17 alpha were effective in this respect, while the estrogenic catechol estrogen 2-hydroxyestradiol was unable to influence the PRL surge. The effectiveness of the PRL surge abolition was highly dependent on the state of the endogenous estradiol levels at the time of administration. Only doses given just before the peak secretion of estradiol were effective in blocking the PRL surge. Despite similarities in the inhibition of the preovulatory LH and PRL surges by catechol estrogens, these are considered to occur by different mechanisms because the LH secretion is blocked by all catechol estrogens, while the PRL surge is affected only by catechol estrogens with no estrogen agonist properties. The catechol estrogen blockade of the PRL surge may have physiological parallels and provides a useful probe of the mechanisms of the estrogen-PRL axis.

Animals

Differential hydroxylations of estrone and estradiol in man.

We sought to test the hypothesis that in man, the fraction of estradiol (E2) that does not undergo oxidation to estrone (E1) in vivo is not available for subsequent hydroxylation at C-2 and C-16 alpha. Using radiometric methods, the extent of 17-oxidation of E2, 2-hydroxylation of E2 and E1, and 16 alpha-hydroxylation of E2 and E1 was determined in normal men. It was expected that administered E1 would transfer more of the tritium from C-2 and C-16 alpha into body water than would the corresponding dose of E2 and that the difference would be related to the fraction of E2 not oxidized at C-17. In eight of eight paired studies, the generation of tritiated water was substantially greater from [2-3H]E1 than from [2-3H]E2. By contrast, in six of seven paired studies, it was the administered [16 alpha-3H]E2 rather than [16 alpha-3H]E1 that underwent greater hydroxylation. No consistent relationship was found between the extent of 17-oxidation and the subsequent hydroxylation. We had previously hypothesized that the differences in the oxidative metabolism of E2 between men and women was due primarily to the lesser conversion of E2 to E1 in men and that the lesser extents of the subsequent hydroxylations at C-2 and C-16 alpha were secondary to this initial difference. The present work indicates that while this concept may be valid in reference to the decreased 2-hydroxylation in men, it does not account for the lesser extent of 16 alpha-hydroxylation.

Adult

Interaction of histones with estrogens. Covalent adduct formation with 16 alpha-hydroxyestrone.

Disturbed estrogen metabolism leading to increased 16 alpha-hydroxyestrone (16 alpha-OHE) has been described in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and mammary carcinoma. Previous studies showed the formation of covalent complexes between 16 alpha-OHE and nonspecific cellular membrane proteins. The present study is concerned with the interaction of 16 alpha-OHE and histones. Covalent adduct formation between 16 alpha-OHE and individual histones was maximal with H1 histone. Other endogenous estrogens such as estrone, estradiol, and estriol did not interact with histones and form covalent adducts, nor did they interfere with the interaction of 16 alpha-OHE with these nuclear proteins. The evidence supports that the adduct formation between 16 alpha-OHE and histones proceeds via a stabilized Schiff base and subsequent rearrangement. This adduct formation which may have in vivo analogues may represent a mechanism for cellular transformation by this estrogen metabolite.

Estradiol

The formation at 37 C of a nondissociable receptor-estradiol complex.

The receptor-estradiol complex formed in rat uterine cytosol when heated at 37 C converts from a dissociable to a nondissociable form. The conversion is best observed in cytosols pretreated with charcoal at 0 C which renders the subsequently formed receptor-estradiol complexes thermostable at 37 C. In the presence of dithiothreitol the heated complex remains dissociable. Tamoxifen does not form nondissociable complexes with the estradiol receptor. It is proposed that the nondissociable form of the receptor complex is a required phase in the mechanism of estradiol action.

Animals

Radiometric analysis of oxidative reactions in aromatization by placental microsomes. Presence of differential isotope effects.

In order to study the initial as well as the final steps in the aromatization of androgens to estrogens, high-specific activity [19-C3H3]androstenedione and testosterone were synthesized. Incubations of [19-C3H3]androstenedione with human placental microsomes resulted in the generation of [3H]water, as a result of the dual hydroxylation at C-19, and [3H]formic acid reflecting final aromatization. After an initial lag in the production of [3H]formic acid, the two radiolabeled products were formed linearly with time at a ratio of 2 to 1 under subsaturating conditions and 2.2 to 1 when saturating levels of substrate were present. Incubation of a mixture of [19-C3H3]- and [4-14C]androstenedione with human placental microsomes yielded 19-hydroxy- and 19-oxoandrostenedione, respectively, products of one and two hydroxylations at C-19. The isotope ratios of these derivatives revealed the presence of a tritium isotope effect in the first but not in the second hydroxylation at that site. When [19-C3H2]- and [4-14C]19-hydroxyandrostenedione were used as the substrate, the isotope ratio of the isolated 19-oxoandrostenedione showed no evidence of any isotope effect in its formation. Thus, the second hydroxylation at C-19 exhibits no isotope effect irrespective of whether androstenedione or 19-hydroxyandrostenedione are the substrates, and therefore, a concerted process and catalytic commitment are not responsible for the difference in isotope effects between the first and second C-19 hydroxylation by the placental aromatase complex. Radiometric kinetic analysis employing [19-C3H3]- and [1 beta,2 beta-3H]androstenedione as the comparative substrates provided evidence that the isotope effect is exerted solely through the Vmax component of the reaction. The distinction between the successive hydroxylations at C-19 in the aromatization sequence suggests, but does not prove, that different mechanisms, and hence different catalytic sites, may be involved in these steps.

Androstenedione

Determination of 16 alpha-hydroxyestrone by radioimmunoassay in systemic lupus erythematosus.

A radioimmunoassay for the feminizing metabolite 16 alpha-hydroxyestrone was applied to a variety of sera from healthy volunteers, patients with active or inactive systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and patients with other rheumatic diseases. A significant increase in this metabolite was detected in patients with SLE, especially those with active disease, compared with normal controls (P less than 0.001). SLE patients were categorized as having either active or inactive disease by clinical and laboratory criteria. Many patients who had clinically and serologically active disease were found to have normal levels of this estrogenic metabolite, and several explanations for these differences are explored in this report. Despite a poor correlation of hormone levels with age, antibody levels, or complement levels in patients with SLE, those patients with the highest levels of hormone were among those whose disease was clinically most active.

Adult

Stereochemistry of 1,2-hydrogen loss during aromatization in the brain.

The stereochemistry of hydrogen loss from C-1 and C-2 during aromatization in rat brain was studied using androstenedione containing a known distribution of isotopic label. Comparison of the tritium content of the estrone obtained from the aromatization of androstenedione labeled predominantly in the 1 alpha,2 alpha positions with that in estrone obtained from a parallel incubation using substrate with label in the 1 beta,2 beta orientation gave an estrone alpha/beta ratio of 3.6. This ratio compares with a calculated value of 4.3 for an aromatization mechanism involving loss of the 1 beta,2 beta-hydrogens. The distortion from the predicted value is due to the loss of tritium from the alpha-substrate which is unrelated to aromatization. The ratio determined experimentally is compatible with 2 beta-tritium loss since random or alpha-elimination from C-2 would yield alpha/beta ratios of 2.2 and 1.3 respectively. In an analogous manner the stereochemistry of tritium loss at C-1 was determined using [1 alpha-3H] and [1 beta-3H]androstenedione. The alpha/beta ratio of the isolated estrone was 3.6 which is in good agreement with the calculated value of 3.3 for 1 beta-tritium elimination. Our results therefore show that estrogen formation in the brain occurs with the same stereospecificity of hydrogen loss at C-1 and C-2 as in placental microsomes.

Androstenedione

Nonpharmacological control of hypertension.

Ability to safely withdraw well-controlled mild hypertensives from drugs is being tested in a three-group randomized trial. Group I (intervention) was removed from drugs after the first 2 months of nutrition counseling. Counseling is continuing through the remaining years of the trial to achieve a minimum weight loss of 10 lb if overweight, reduction of sodium intake to less than 1,800 mg, and reduction of alcohol intake to not more than two drinks per day. Group II (the first control group) was also removed from drugs to see if previous long-term blood pressure control had a carryover effect without dietary change. Blood pressure is monitored frequently in both groups, with return to drug treatment in the event of specified blood pressure rise. Group III (the second control group) has remained on drugs for comparison of blood pressure and biochemical variables. In Group I mean 30-month weight loss was 8 lb, with 35% losing 10+ lb; sodium intake was reduced by 38%. Blood pressure control without drugs was maintained for 47% of Group I patients but only 16% of group II patients (P less than 0.05). These findings indicate it may be possible, after establishing good blood pressure control, to maintain control in a sizable proportion without medication, when reduction of weight, sodium, and alcohol intake is achieved.

Alcohol Drinking

Estradiol 16 alpha-hydroxylation in the mouse correlates with mammary tumor incidence and presence of murine mammary tumor virus: a possible model for the hormonal etiology of breast cancer in humans.

In this report, we describe our findings on the relationship between estradiol 16 alpha-hydroxylation and mammary tumor incidence. A close correlation between the two has been demonstrated with 16-hydroxylation being elevated in strains with a high incidence of tumors, such as RIII and C3H, and low in strains with a low incidence of cancer, such as C57BL. The extent of reaction is highly reproducible and unaffected by age or presence of overt mammary tumors. Studies on the inheritance of estradiol 16 alpha-hydroxylase showed that it is inherited as an autosomal dominant and is not correlated with estradiol 2-hydroxylase or androgen and progestin 16 alpha-hydroxylases. In addition, the reaction was shown to be markedly enhanced by the presence of murine mammary tumor virus and diminished in the absence of the virus. These studies establish a relationship between genetics, hormonal factors, and murine mammary tumor virus, the three key factors in mammary tumorigenesis.

Age Factors

19-Hydroxylation of androgens in the rat brain.

Aromatization of androgens in the central nervous system is linked with sexual differentiation of the brain and, thus, determines the nature of sexual behavior and the control of gonadotropin secretion. The process of aromatization, as determined in the human placenta, proceeds through two successive hydroxylations at C-19, the products of which are then virtually completely converted via a third hydroxylation at C-2 to estrogens. We now report that in the rat brain, 19-hydroxylation of androgens greatly exceeds aromatization and the 19-hydroxy- and 19-oxoandrogen products accumulate in quantities 5 times greater than the estrogens. This relationship implies that the aromatization sequence in the brain is deficient in the terminal hydroxylase, and the process is distinct from that in other tissues. The function of 19-hydroxy- and 19-oxotestosterone in the central nervous system is unknown but, unlike the reduced or aromatized metabolites of the male hormone, these substances cannot be delivered from the circulation and their presence in the brain is totally dependent on in situ formation, making them logical candidates for modulators of neuronal functions.

Androgens

Hyperbaric oxygenation in peripheral ischaemic lesions in infants.

Acute peripheral arterial occlusion may lead to gangrene, with loss of parts of arms and legs. Three infants with disseminated intravascular clotting developed dark red discoloration of the tips of fingers and toes which progressed proximally. Repeated hyperbaric oxygenation treatments caused regression of the demarcation line and further progression of necrosis stopped.

Arm

Castration affects male rat brain opiate receptor content.

We previously reported that saturable stereospecific binding of [3H]-naltrexone in rat brain homogenates prepared from castrated male rats was greater than the corresponding binding in intact animals. We now report that we have replicated these results and that the difficulty of other investigators in observing these differences is due to methodological factors. Specifically, when samples were filtered individually and rapidly, differences between castrated and intact rats were maintained. The increase in binding was also observed when tissues were washed to remove endogenous opioids prior to incubation, when [3H]-naloxone was used as the ligand, and when various antagonists were used as displacers in the radioreceptor assay.

Animals