Study on the hepatotoxicity and potential mechanism of gefitinib based on CYP450 in mice and AML12 cells

ObjectivesGefitinib is mainly used for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer. Hepatotoxicity is one of the main side effects of gefitinib, and seriously affects the treatment process of the disease. However, the hepatotoxicity mechanism of gefitinib remains unclear.MethodsThe hepatotoxicity of different doses of gefitinib was investigated in mice and AML-12 cells, and the possible correlation of hepatotoxicity with CYP450 was analysed.Key findingsThe toxic effects of gefitinib were confirmed by the increased liver index, decreased body weight and survival rate, injured liver function and histopathology followed 16 days of oral administration. Gefitinib (400 mg/kg) upregulated the hepatic mRNA expression of CYP1A1 and downregulated the CYP2D9 and CYP2D10 in mice. Furthermore, we verified that gefitinib produced cytotoxicity on AML-12 cells in a dose and time-dependent manner, and confirmed that gefitinib (20 μM) induced cell apoptosis, upregulated mRNA expression of CYP1A1 and downregulated CYP2D9 and CYP2D10. Pearson correlation analysis also showed that the hepatotoxicity of gefitinib was positively correlated with CYP1A1 and negatively correlated with CYP2D9 and CYP2D10.ConclusionsOur results suggested that the hepatotoxicity gefitinib may be associated with CYP1A1, CYP2D9 and CYP2D10. These findings will contribute to a better understanding of the mechanism of gefitinib hepatotoxicity.