Effetti di alcuni trattamenti illeciti sul metabolismo ossidativo P450-dipendente nel fegato del vitello a carne bianca: risultati preliminari

In this paper, the effects of two illicit drug treatments (oestrogen-testosterone, oestrogen-boldenone) upon the liver P450 drug metabolism of veal calves are reported. Total P450 content and the catalytical activities of some P450 isoforms, measured by using rodents and human probes, were never affected by the treatments. Nevertheless, in certain instances noteworthy relevant increased (e.g. CYP2B, CYP3A) or reduced (CYP1A) drug metabolising enzymes activities, compared to controls, were noticed. These preliminary results seem to confirm that the administration of forbidden drugs to cattle might affect the expression of drug metabolising enzymes: however, more studies are required to confirm or not such a behaviour, particularly at the gene- or protein-level. This would permit an increasing effectiveness of screening analytical methods to ensure the animal welfare and the human safety.