Drug metabolism and cytochrome P-450 (CYPs)

Cytochrome p-450 (CYPs) convert xenobiotics, chemicals, and drugs in the liver into intoxic materials that can be easily eliminated in the body. However, these CYPs sometimes mediate fatal diseases by converting drugs (for instance, paracetamol) into toxic substances that cannot be eliminated or excreted quickly from the body and hence cause hepatocyte damage that decreases the function of the liver. This article review aimed to determine the history, nomenclature, family, and subfamily of CYPs and mainly stress cytochrome P450 roles in drug metabolism. Some toxic byproducts induce autoreactive antibodies by binding to the CYPs, which causes further damage to hepatocytes. The most common causes of liver damage are type II autoimmune hepatitis, drinking alcohol, and free radicals, which cause DNA mutations. Another condition that leads to liver damage is the inability of the liver to detoxify the drug, which leads to further damage to the liver. There are some isoforms of CYPs, such as 3A, 1A, and 2C19, that are severely affected when the liver is no longer able to relieve toxic products, but some isoforms of CYPs are less affected during damage to the liver, which includes 2E1, 2D6, and 2C9. There are parameters for the involvement of CYPs in liver disease, depending on the cause of the damage, which is either drugs or alcohol. Thus, further research must be done to know the exact etiology and management of the diseases related to liver damage through CYPs.