Depression of membrane-bound hydrolases by cimetidine in mouse renal basolateral and brush border

Oral administration of the antiulcerogenic drug, cimetidine, was studied on kidney-bound hydrolytic enzymes at three different dose levels (30 mg, 100 mg, and 2000 mg/kg body weight) and for single administration for 2 and 24 h, and daily administration for 15 days in mice. It significantly inhibited Na+, K(+)-ATPase, Mg(2+)-ATPase, and Ca2+, Mg(2+)-ATPase in the isolated basolateral membrane (BLM). Brush-border-membrane-(BBM)-associated enzymes, sucrase, lactase, maltase, leucine aminopeptidase, and alkaline phosphatase also showed a marked reduction. Substrate saturation kinetics revealed the nature of inhibition was of mixed type in the case of sucrase, lactase, maltase, and alkaline phosphatase (Km was increased, while Vmax decreased), whereas it was of non-competitive type for leucine aminopeptidase (Km was unchanged, while Vmax decreased). In vitro addition of cimetidine (5-20 mM) to the BBM also inhibited the enzyme activity. Dixon plot produced the inhibition constant (Ki) for cimetidine in the case of maltase, alkaline phosphatase, and leucine aminopeptidase in the order of 14.83, 32.83 and 11.5 mM, respectively. Analysis of lipids revealed a significant reduction in BBM-associated phospholipid and phospholipid/cholesterol molar ratio, while the neutral lipid fraction, i.e., cholesterol and triglycerides were not altered. Free fatty acid exhibited an increase after drug treatment, which was significant at higher dose after 24 h of single and 15 days of daily treatment. BLM-associated lipids did not exhibit any significant change. Cimetidine-induced depression in renal BLM- and BBM-associated disaccharidases and ATPases, at least at the higher dose level, may have serious consequences in the absorption of end-product nutrients.