Xenobiotic Metabolism: When Metabolites are More Toxic Than Parent Compound

Xenobiotic Metabolism: When Metabolites are More Toxic Than Parent Compound
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Xenobiotic Metabolism: When Metabolites are More Toxic Than Parent Compound
Xenobiotics are chemical substances that are not naturally found in an organism, where in some cases they tend to be more toxic than the parent compound. An example of a xenobiotic metabolite that has a higher toxicity level than the parent compound is the paracetamol medication, scientifically known as acetaminophen (van Vugt-Lussenburg et al., 2022). Acetaminophen is a toxic xenobiotic metabolite that is used in relieving pain. It is an antipyretic medication, illustrating its effect on increased metabolism in the human liver.
When acetaminophen is ingested under the recommended dosage, it experiences normal metabolism in the liver. It is processed by the liver using glucuronidation and sulfation, thus offering healthy pain relieving effect in the human body. However, when excessively consumed, acetaminophen leads to increased saturation of the glucuronidation and sulfation processes. An increase in metabolism leads to use of other pathways in the liver (Madiedo-Podvrsan et al., 2023). An example of a pathway activated by the increased m...