In vivo examination of the effects of hydroxycinnamic acid on xenobiotic metabolizing and antioxidant enzymes

In the last decade, hydroxycinnamic acids (HCA) have gained increasing attention from researchers due to their antioxidant potential. The aim of this study was to examine in detail the impact of dietary HCA on particular types of P450 and also selected phase II and antioxidant enzymes in Wistar rat. HCA (10 μM/kg/day, i.p.) was administered for ten continuous days. Examination of the activities and mRNA and protein levels revealed that CYP2B, 2C6 and 3A enzyme activities were not altered significantly, with Western blot and qRT-PCR results corroborating this result. While treatment with HCA led to a significant reduction in CYP1A1/CYP1A2-associated enzyme activities, CYP1A1 protein, and mRNA levels were found to be unchanged. Aromatase (CYP19) activity, as well as protein and mRNA levels, were significantly reduced with HCA treatment. On the other hand, the NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) activities were increased significantly. Also, HCA treatment significantly increased the GST-mu and GST-theta mRNA levels. These observations may be of importance given the potential use of HCA as a chemopreventive and as an anticancer agent.