Reduction of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity resulting from the protection of thymidylate synthase (TS) in GI tissue by repeated simultaneous administration of potassium oxonate (Oxo) in rats

Abstract

Purpose: An important cytotoxic effect of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is the inactivation of thymidylate synthase (TS) (EC 2.1.1.45) activity by the formation of a ternary complex consisting of covalently bound 5-fluorodeoxyuridine 5′-monophosphate (FdUMP), TS and 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate (CH₂FH₄). The gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity of 5-FU is also caused by its phosphorylation in the GI tract. Potassium oxonate (Oxo) competitively inhibits pyrimidine phosphoribosyltransferase (EC 2.4.2.10), which converts 5-FU to 5-fluorouridine 5′-monophosphate (FUMP) in vitro. In this study the benefits of combining Oxo and tegafur (FT), which is a masked compound of 5-FU, in reducing the GI toxicity of 5-FU and in protecting the activity of TS in the normal GI tissues were evaluated. Methods: We administered orally a preparation of 1 M FT and 0.4 M 5-chloro-2,4-dihydroxypyridine (CDHP) with or without 1 M Oxo (called S-1 and FT + CDHP, respectively) or vehicle only (control) to rats for ten consecutive days and compared the toxicity, the histopathological findings and the free TS activity in the GI tissues of the treated rats. Results: During the experimental periods, the signs of toxicity, such as a decrease in body weight, diarrhea and death, were only observed in the rats treated with FT + CDHP. The histopathological findings in the ileum and colon samples from rats treated consecutively with S-1 on day 1, day 4, day 7 and day 10 were less frequent and more mild than in the samples from rats treated with FT + CDHP. Furthermore, the free TS activities in the ileum samples of rats given S-1 and FT + CDHP were significantly decreased compared with the activity in samples from the control rats throughout the experimental periods. The free TS activities in GI tissues of rats treated with S-1 were higher than the TS activities in tissues from rats treated with FT + CDHP daily from day 4 to day 10, although activities in S-1-treated rat were decreased to almost same low levels as in FT + CDHP-treated rats on day 1. Conclusions: Our results suggest that repeated simultaneous administration of Oxo and FT can effectively protect the activity of TS by decreasing FdUMP via FUMP from 5-FU in GI tissue, and may lead to a reduction in GI toxicity.