TY - JOUR T1 - Metabolism-Based Inactivation of Penile Nitric Oxide Synthase Activity by Guanabenz JF - Drug Metabolism and Disposition JO - Drug Metab Dispos SP - 497 LP - 501 VL - 26 IS - 5 AU - Mikiya Nakatsuka AU - Kashime Nakatsuka AU - Yoichi Osawa Y1 - 1998/05/01 UR - http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/26/5/497.abstract N2 - Guanabenz (Wytensin) was shown to inactivate nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity in vitro and in vivo. Inin vitro studies with the use of a cytosolic fraction from penile tissue, the inactivation was found to depend on NADPH, time, and the concentration of guanabenz. The L-, but not the D-, isomer of arginine could protect from the inactivation, suggesting an active site-directed event. The kinetics of inactivation could be described by an apparent dissociation constant for the initial reversible complex (Ki ) and a pseudo first-order inactivation constant (kinact) of 38.5 μM and 0.179 min-1, respectively. In in vivo studies, guanabenz was shown to inhibit penile cytosolic NOS activity in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Treatment of rats with guanabenz (5 mg/kg/day) for 4 days caused a decrease of approximately one-half in the NOS activity of the penile cytosolic fraction with a concomitant loss in the amount of immunodetectable NOS protein. Treatment for 4 days at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg/day showed a similar decrease in activity, whereas a dose of 0.05 mg/kg/day showed no effects. Due to the multitude of processes that are regulated by NO, the inactivation of NOS is a potential mechanism to be considered in a variety of biological effects associated with drugs. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics ER -