Effects of aspirin on arylamine N-acetyltransferase activity in Klebsiella pneumoniae

This study was designed to assess the effects of aspirin on arylamine N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activities in the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae using high performance liquid chromatography to measure the acetylation of 2-aminofluorene (2-AF) with or without aspirin. Cytosols or suspensions of K. pneumoniae with or without specific concentrations of aspirin co-treatment showed different percentages of 2-AF acetylation. The data indicated that there was decreased NAT activity associated with increased levels of aspirin in K. pneumoniae cytosols and in intact bacteria. For the cytosal examination, the apparent values of Km and Vmax decreased 0.59- and 058- fold after co-treated with 40 mu M aspirin, respectively, for 2-AF. For the intact bacteria examination, the apparent values of Km and Vmax decreased 0.60- and 067- fold after co-treated with 40 CIM aspirin, respectively, for 2-AF. This report is the first demonstration to show that aspirin can decrease N-acetyltransferase activity in the bacterium K. pneumoniae.