TY - JOUR T1 - The Non-enzymatic Reactivity of the Acyl-linked Metabolites of Mefenamic Acid Towards Amino and Thiol Functional Group Biomolecules JF - Drug Metabolism and Disposition JO - Drug Metab Dispos DO - 10.1124/dmd.113.053223 SP - dmd.113.053223 AU - Howard Horng AU - Leslie Z. Benet Y1 - 2013/08/23 UR - http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/early/2013/08/23/dmd.113.053223.abstract N2 - Mefenamic acid, (MFA), a carboxylic acid-containing nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) is metabolized into the chemically-reactive, MFA-1-O-acyl-glucuronide (MFA-1-O-G), MFA-acyl-adenylate (MFA-AMP), and the MFA-S-acyl-CoA (MFA-CoA), all of which are electrophilic and capable of acylating nucleophilic sites on biomolecules. In this study, we investigate the non-enzymatic ability of each MFA acyl-linked metabolite to transacylate amino and thiol functional groups on the acceptor biomolecules glycine (Gly), taurine (Tau), glutathione (GSH), and N-acetylcysteine (NAC). In vitro incubations with each of the MFA acyl-linked metabolites (1 μM) in buffer under physiological conditions with Gly, Tau, GSH, or NAC (10 mM) revealed that MFA-CoA was 11.5- and 19.5-fold more reactive than MFA-AMP towards the acylation of cysteine-sulfhydryl groups of GSH and NAC, respectively. However, MFA-AMP was more reactive towards both Gly and Tau, 17.5-fold more reactive towards the N-acyl-amidation of taurine than its corresponding CoA thioester, while MFA-CoA displayed little reactivity towards glycine. Additionally, MFA-GSH was 5.6- and 108-fold more reactive towards NAC than MFA-CoA and MFA-AMP, respectively. In comparison to MFA-AMP and MFA-CoA, MFA-1-O-G was not significantly reactive towards all four bionucleophiles. MFA-AMP, MFA-CoA, MFA-1-O-G, MFA-GSH, and MFA-Tau were also detected in rat in vitro hepatocyte MFA (100 μM) incubations while MFA-Gly was not. These results demonstrate that MFA-AMP selectively reacts nonenzymatically with the amino functional groups of glycine and lysine, MFA-CoA selectively reacts nonenzymatically with the thiol functional groups of GSH and NAC, and MFA-GSH reacts nonenzymatically with the thiol functional group of GSH, all of which may potentially elicit an idiosyncratic toxicity in vivo. ER -