Enzyme systems of detoxication — overview of recent approaches

The most important enzymes of detoxication are cytochromes P450 of Phase I and UDPglucuronosyltransferases of Phase II of drug metabolism. The conventional division of drug, or xenobiotic, metabolism to two phases has survived almost fifty years and although not perfect, still is rather informative and practical. The recent addition of the next, third phase to the first two (Phase I as yielding a molecule with free functional groups ready for conjugation with another molecule or its part in Phase II) stressed the importance of drug transport across the membranes even if it is not a pure metabolic process (i.e. a process changing the polarity and structure of a compound).