T-2 toxin is hydroxylated by chicken CYP3A37

T-2 toxin (T-2) is an acute toxic trichothecene mycotoxin produced mainly by Fusarium species, detected in many crops including oats, wheat and barley, in animal feed and food. It is important to know the metabolic pathway and kinetics of T-2 in food animals given that T-2 can cause serious adverse effects on human health. In this study, we investigated the metabolic capacity of chicken CYP3A37 in the metabolism of T-2 using reconstituted bacteria produced enzymes. Our results showed that chicken CYP3A37 is able to convert T-2 to 3′-OH T-2 with an apparent Km of 15.29 μM, and T-2 hydroxylation activity of CYP3A37 is strongly inhibited by ketoconazole (IC50 = 0.11 μM). We also observed that chicken CYP3A37 can catalyze erythromycin N-demethylation, another CYP3A-specific activity. These findings imply that chicken CYP3A37 may have a broad substrate spectrum, similar to its human homologue CYP3A4.