Inactivation of corticosteroids in intestinal mucosa by 11 beta-hydroxysteroid: NADP oxidoreductase (EC 1.1.1.146)

Activity of the enzyme 11 beta-hydroxysteroid:NADP oxidoreductase (EC 1.1.1.146) in human intestinal mucosa was determined by incubating scraped mucosa with 3H-cortisone and 14C-cortisol; these steroids were then extracted, separated chromatographically, and the radioactivity assayed to determine simultaneously both reductase and dehydrogenase activities. This was the only significant metabolic alteration which the substrate underwent. Only two cases had slight (5 and 13%) reductase activity. In 35 patients, 16 male and 19 female, including seven cases of Crohn's disease, three ulcerative colitis, five diverticulitis, two undergoing surgery for repair of injuries and 18 for carcinoma of colon or rectum, cortisol was converted to cortisone in 15 min with a wide range of values distributed uniformly up to 85% dehydrogenation, with a mean of 42%. When tissue homogenates were fortified with coenzymes, excess NADPH lowered dehydrogenase activity 81%; excess NADP increased dehydrogenase activity 2-fold in three cases. It is possible that a value is characteristic of an individual but perhaps more likely enzyme activity varies with metabolic events involving changes in the coenzyme levels in mucosa, and a random sampling might be expected to yield such a distribution of values. In any event, where activity is high most of the cortisol is inactivated within minutes. It is suggested that synthetic corticoids which escape such metabolic alteration might, except during pregnancy, prove superior in the treatment of conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease.