What are considered xenobiotics?
What are considered xenobiotics?
Xenobiotics are compounds that are foreign to an organism or are not part of its normal nutrition. Examples of Xenobiotics are compounds that include drugs, food additives, and environmental pollutants.
Why are drugs referred to as xenobiotics?
Xenobiotics are chemicals found but not produced in organisms or the environment. The “xeno” in “xenobiotics” comes from the Greek word xenos meaning guest, friend, or foreigner.
What do p450s do?
Cytochromes P450 (CYPs) are a superfamily of enzymes containing heme as a cofactor that functions as monooxygenases. In mammals, these proteins oxidize steroids, fatty acids, and xenobiotics, and are important for the clearance of various compounds, as well as for hormone synthesis and breakdown.
Is xenobiotic toxic?
Xenobiotics causing a variety of toxicity in biological systems could be classified as two types, inorganic and organic chemicals. It is estimated that the organic xenobiotics are responsible for approximately 80~90% of chemical-induced toxicity in human population.
What is glucuronide conjugate?
Glucuronide conjugate process is perhaps the major and most common route for Phase II metabolism to form water-soluble metabolites. Glucuronide conjugation involves the direct interaction of the drugs and xenobiotics (or its Phase I metabolite) with the cofactor UDP–glucuronic acid (UDPGA) as shown in Fig.
What is a CYP?
Cytochrome P450 (CYP) is a hemeprotein that plays a key role in the metabolism of drugs and other xenobiotics (Estabrook, 2003). In 1963, Estabrook, Cooper, and Rosenthal described the role of CYP as a catalyst in steroid hormone synthesis and drug metabolism.
What is xenobiotics stress?
Description. Xenobiotics such as drugs, chemotherapy, food additives, and environmental pollutants are foreign chemical compounds to our biological system. These compounds generate several free radicals that lead to increase the oxidative stress in the cells.
What are xenobiotics and what are they?
In other words, xenobiotics are those chemicals, which are normally not produced or expected to be present in an organism, but still they are found in it. It also covers substances, which are present in much higher concentrations than are usual. It will be worthwhile to add that a xenobiotic is a foreign compound to which the body is exposed.
Do microorganisms degrade xenobiotic compounds?
Microorganisms are also able to degrade many of the xenobiotic compounds, but they are unable to degrade many others. The compounds that resist biodegradation and thereby persists in the environment are called recalcitrant. The xenobiotic compounds may be recalcitrant due to one or more of the following reasons:
Are xenobiotics harmful to man and the environment?
These substitutions make them recalcitrant. The xenobiotics present a number of potential hazards to man and the environment which are briefly listed below. Many xenobiotics like halogenated and aromatic hycrocarbons are toxic to bacteria, lower eukaryotes and even humans.
How does the body remove xenobiotics from the body?
The body removes xenobiotics by xenobiotic metabolism. This consists of the deactivation and the excretion of xenobiotics and happens mostly in the liver. Excretion routes are urine, feces, breath, and sweat.
