Publications by authors named "Jeannette Zinggeler Berg"

Cytochrome P450 (P450) 2S1 is one of the orphan P450s, known to be expressed but not having a defined function with an endogenous substrate or in drug oxidations. Although it has been clearly demonstrated to catalyze reductive reactions, its role in NADPH-dependent oxidations has been ambiguous. In our efforts to characterize orphan human P450 enzymes, we used an untargeted liquid chromatography-mass spectromterymetabolomic approach with recombinant human P450 2S1 and extracts of rat stomach and intestine, sites of P450 2S1 localization in humans and animals.

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Objective: To evaluate the effect of video laryngoscopy on the rate of endotracheal intubation on first laryngoscopy attempt among critically ill adults.

Design: A randomized, parallel-group, pragmatic trial of video compared with direct laryngoscopy for 150 adults undergoing endotracheal intubation by Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine fellows.

Setting: Medical ICU in a tertiary, academic medical center.

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Background: Tobacco exposure is routinely assessed by quantifying nicotine metabolites in plasma or urine. On average, 80% of nicotine undergoes C-oxidation to cotinine. However, interindividual variation in nicotine glucuronidation is substantial, and glucuronidation accounts for from 0% to 40% of total nicotine metabolism.

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Nicotine is the major addictive agent in tobacco smoke, and it is metabolized extensively by oxidation and glucuronide conjugation. The contributions of ethnicity and UGT2B10 haplotype on variation in nicotine metabolism were investigated. Nicotine metabolism was evaluated in two populations of smokers.

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Bay region diol epoxides are recognized ultimate carcinogens of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and in vitro studies have demonstrated that they can be detoxified by conjugation with glutathione, leading to the widely investigated hypothesis that individuals with low activity forms of glutathione-S-transferases are at higher risk of PAH induced cancer, a hypothesis that has found at most weak support in molecular epidemiology studies. A weakness in this hypothesis was that the mercapturic acids resulting from the conjugation of PAH bay region diol epoxides had never been identified in human urine. We recently analyzed smokers' urine for mercapturic acids derived from phenanthrene, the simplest PAH with a bay region.

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Cytochrome P450 2A13-catalyzed alpha-hydroxylation is a critical step in the activation of the tobacco carcinogens 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) and (S)-N'-nitrosonornicotine [(S)-NNN]. In the enzyme's active site, a single polar residue, Asn297, can influence substrate binding, orientation, and metabolism. We determined the effects of N297A mutation on enzyme kinetics and specificity for NNK, NNN, and coumarin metabolism.

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