VACCINE

“... it has become apparent over the past 20 years, and most notably during the past 10 years,
that an array of metabolic machinery is also expressed in this organ ...”
Drug Metabolism & Disposition • December 2003
The Small Intestine
As A Xenobiotic-Metabolizing Organ
Author Information
Laurence S. Kaminsky and Qing-Yu Zhang
Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health
Albany, New York (L.S.K., Q-Y.Z.)
Department of Environmental Health and Toxicology
School of Public Health, University at Albany
State University of New York, Albany, New York (L.S.K.)
Address correspondence to:
Dr. Laurence Kaminsky, New York State Department of Health
Wadsworth Center, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY 12201-0509
kaminsky@wadsworth.org
Abstract
The mammalian small intestine serves principally as the site for absorption of nutrients, water, and both beneficial
and potentially harmful xenobiotics. However, it has become apparent over the past 20 years, and most notably
during the past 10 years, that an array of metabolic machinery is also expressed in this organ (Kaminsky and
Fasco, 1992; Lin et al., 1999; Doherty and Charman, 2002; Ding and Kaminsky, 2003). Both phase I and phase
II metabolic enzymes are expressed, together with associated transporters. In this minireview we discuss some
of the most prominent phase I and II enzymes in the metabolic systems in the small intestine. The transporters,
despite their importance for the fate of enterocyte- absorbed xenobiotics, are beyond the scope of this minireview
(Suzuki and Sugiyama, 2000).
http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/31/12/1520.long
[vaccines are xenobiotics]