Drug-induced alterations in the metabolome of primary hepatocytes

Background: Xenobiotics can induce rapid changes in the metabolome of cells even at non-toxic doses. This might result in the disturbance of metabolite and cell membrane compositions. The latter affects cellular signaling and transport processes. The effect of low, non-toxic doses of acetaminophen on the cell membrane composition was studied in primary hepatocytes, using ToF-SIMS. Methods: Primary rat hepatocytes were isolated using the collagenase perfusion technique and seeded on collagen-coated wafers. After treatment for 24h with different concentrations of acetaminophen cells were fast-frozen, freeze dried…