Jason Hyun Winnike1, Peter Pediaditakis1, Paul Brent Watkins2, Jeffrey Marshall Macdonald1
1Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; 2Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Primary human hepatocytes were treated with non-cytotoxic doses of acetaminophen to examine its effects on metabolism and metabolite profiles. After exposure to cell media containing acetaminophen and u-13C glucose, hepatocytes were extracted so that the polar small molecule intracellular metabolites could be collected for NMR spectroscopy. Endogenous and exogenous phase 2 metabolites were identified and quantified using the NMR spectra. This information was used to examine how primary human hepatocytes metabolized the xenobiotic as well as determine changes in endogenous metabolism indicative of changes in energy production and storage.