Fluorimetric Detection of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Activity in Human Blood, Saliva, and Organ Biopsies and Kinetic Differentiation between Class I and Class III Isozymes

Two highly fluorogenic aldehydes, 7-methoxy-1-naphthaldehyde (MONAL-71) and 6-methoxy-2-naphthaldehyde (MONAL-62), were examined as indicators of the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity in human tissue homogenates and accessible body fluids. Both compounds were previously found to be excellent substrates for the ALDH from erythrocytes and for the purified class I (cytosolic) ALDH from human liver. By contrast, only MONAL-62, but not the isomeric MONAL-71, was oxidized by class III ALDH present in human saliva. The apparentKmfor the former compound reacting with saliva ALDH is 0.24 μm, with the reaction rate (Vmax) close to that of benzaldehyde oxidation. There is also a fully competitive inhibition of the fluorogenic oxidation of the MONAL-62 by benzaldehyde. Both NAD+and NADP+can be used as oxidants in this reaction, with comparable rates, a fact previously reported for the human class III aldehyde dehydrogenase. In human liver homogenate (cytosolic + microsomal fraction), the ALDH activity is easily detectable using either MONAL-71 or MONAL-62, with specific activities of approximately 2.5 and 3.2 units per gram of protein, respectively. The low apparentKmvalues, 0.85 and