Assessment of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase catalyzed formation of Picroside II glucuronide in microsomes of different species and recombinant UGTs

1. This study compared the hepatic glucuronidation of Picroside II in different species and characterized the glucuronidation activities of human intestinal microsomes (HIMs) and recombinant human UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) for Picroside II.

2. The rank order of hepatic microsomal glucuronidation activity of Picroside II was rat > mouse > human > dog. The intrinsic clearance of Picroside II hepatic glucuronidation in rat, mouse and dog was about 10.6-, 6.0- and 2.3-fold of that in human, respectively.

3. Among the 12 recombinant human UGTs, UGT1A7, UGT1A8, UGT1A9 and UGT1A10 catalyzed the glucuronidation. UGT1A10, which are expressed in extrahepatic tissues, showed the highest activity of Picroside II glucuronidation (K_m?=?45.1 μM, V_max?=?831.9 pmol/min/mg protein). UGT1A9 played a primary role in glucuronidation in human liver microsomes (HLM; K_m?=?81.3 μM, V_max?=?242.2 pmol/min/mg protein). In addition, both mycophenolic acid (substrate of UGT1A9) and emodin (substrate of UGT1A8 and UGT1A10) could inhibit the glucuronidation of Picroside II with the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values of 173.6 and 76.2 μM, respectively.

4. Enzyme kinetics was also performed in HIMs. The K_m value of Picroside II glucuronidation was close to that in recombinant human UGT1A10 (K_m?=?58.6 μM, V_max?=?721.4 pmol/min/mg protein). The intrinsic clearance was 5.4-fold of HLMs. Intestinal UGT enzymes play an important role in Picroside II glucuronidation in human.

     

Target-mediated metabolism and target-mediated drug disposition of the DPPIV inhibitor AMG 222

1. Pharmacokinetic and metabolism aspects of AMG 222 interaction with target enzyme, dipeptidylpeptidase IV (DPPIV) were investigated.

2. Inhibition of recombinant human DPPIV by AMG 222 was measured. IC₅₀ decreased as preincubation time increased. k_off, k_on and K_d were measured. Dilution assay indicated a long dissociation half-life (730?min) relative to DPPIV inhibitor vildagliptin. AMG 222 is a slow-on, tight-binding, slowly reversible inhibitor of DPPIV.

3. Amide and acid metabolites arising from hydrolysis of AMG 222’s cyano group were formed slowly by rhDPPIV, but not by microsomes or S9. The amide metabolite was converted to the acid metabolite by rhDPPIV, but not by an active site mutant. These metabolites of AMG 222 are formed by target-mediated metabolism of the cyano group, similar to vildagliptin.

4. Human plasma protein binding of [¹⁴C]AMG 222 was saturable and concentration-dependent. After 30?min, [¹⁴C]AMG 222 was 80.8% bound at 1?nM and binding decreased to 29.4% above 100?nM. The plasma DPPIV concentration (4.1?nM) and human plasma AMG 222 concentrations that inhibit DPPIV, occurred in the range of concentration-dependent binding. Target-mediated drug disposition influences AMG 222 pharmacokinetics, similar to DPPIV inhibitor, linagliptin.

     

Drug interaction potential of toremifene and N-desmethyltoremifene with multiple cytochrome P450 isoforms

1. Toremifene is an effective agent for the treatment of breast cancer in postmenopausal women and is being evaluated for its ability to prevent bone fractures in men with prostate cancer taking androgen deprivation therapy.

2. Due to the potential for drug–drug interactions, the ability of toremifene and its primary circulating metabolite N-desmethyltoremifene (NDMT) to inhibit nine human cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes was determined using human liver microsomes. Induction of CYP1A2 and 3A4 by toremifene was also investigated in human hepatocytes.

3. Toremifene did not significantly inhibit CYP1A2 or 2D6. However, toremifene is a competitive inhibitor of CYP3A4, non-competitive inhibitor of CYP2A6, 2C8, 2C9, 2C19 and 2E1 and mixed-type inhibitor of CYP2B6. CYP inhibition by NDMT was similar in magnitude to toremifene. Toremifene did not induce CYP1A2 but increased CYP3A4 monooxygenase activity and gene expression in drug-exposed human primary hepatocytes.

4. Although clinical doses of toremifene produce steady state exposures to toremifene and NDMT that may be sufficient to cause pharmacokinetic drug–drug interactions with other drugs metabolised by CYP2B6, CYP2C8, CYP3A4, CYP2C9 and CYP2C19, these data indicate that toremifene is unlikely to play a role in clinical drug–drug interactions with substrate drugs of CYP1A2 and CYP2D6.

     

Effect of natamycin on cytochrome P450 enzymes in rats

Natamycin is a polyene macrolide antibiotic widely used in the food industry as a feed additive to prevent mold contamination of foods. There are many contradictory results on the genotoxic effects of macrolides which could suggest a potential risk for humans. In the present study, the effects of natamycin on the activities of some drug metabolizing enzymes in rat liver microsomes were determined in vivo. Rats were treated orally with natamycin at doses of 0.3, 1, 3 and 10 mg/kg body weight (bw)/day for 6 days. Determinations of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme activities were carried out in hepatic microsomes isolated from rats treated. The activities of CYP2E1, CYP1A1/2 CYP2B1/2 and CYP4A1/2 enzymes significantly decreased after treatment with 1, 3 and 10 mg/kg bw/day, in a dose-dependent manner as compared to control. This effect was not observed after natamycin treatment at dose of 0.3 mg/kg bw/day. Our results suggest that natamycin may not potentiate the toxicity of many xenobiotics via metabolic activation and/or accumulation of reactive metabolites but also might affect the clearance of other xenobiotics detoxified by the studied CYP enzymes.     

Effect of Morin on pharmacokinetics of Piracetam in rats,in vitro enzyme kinetics and metabolic stability assay using rapid UPLC method

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Morin on the pharmacokinetics of Piracetam in rats, in vitro enzyme kinetics and metabolic stability (high throughput) studies using human liver microsomes in UPLC. For pharmacokinetics studies, male Wistar rats were pretreated with Morin (10 mg/kg) for one week and on the last day, a single dose of Piracetam (50 mg/kg) was given orally. In another group, both Morin and Piracetam were co‐administered to evaluate the acute effect of Morin on Piracetam. The control group received oral distilled water for one week and administered with Piracetam on the last day. As Morin is an inhibitor of P‐ Glycoprotein (P‐gp) and CYP 3A, it was anticipated to improve the bioavailability of Piracetam. Amazingly, relative to control, the areas under the concentration time curve and peak plasma concentration of Piracetam were 1.50‐ and 1.45‐fold, respectively, greater in the Morin‐pretreated group. However, co‐administration of Morin had no significant effect on these parameters. Apart from the aforementioned merits, the results of this study are further confirmed by clinical trials; Piracetam dosages should be adjusted to avoid potential drug interaction when Piracetam is used clinically in combination with Morin and Morin‐containing dietary supplements. The in vitro enzyme kinetics were performed to determined km, V_max & CL_ins. The in vitro metabolic stability executed for the estimation of metabolic rate constant and half‐life of Piracetam. These studies also extrapolate to in vivo intrinsic hepatic clearance (Cl_{int, in vivo}) from in vitro intrinsic hepatic clearance (CL_{int, in vitro})_. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Minor contribution of CYP3A5 to the metabolism of hepatitis C protease inhibitor paritaprevir in vitro

1. Paritaprevir (PTV) is a non-structural protein 3/4A protease inhibitor developed for the treatment of hepatitis C disease as a fixed dose combination of ombitasvir (OBV) and ritonavir (RTV) with or without dasabuvir.

2. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A5 on in vitro PTV metabolism using human recombinant CYP3A4, CYP3A5 (rCYP3A4, rCYP3A5) and human liver microsomes (HLMs) genotyped as either CYP3A5*1/*1, CYP3A5*1/*3 or CYP3A5*3/*3.

3. The intrinsic clearance (CL_int, V_max/K_m) for the production of a metabolite from PTV in rCYP3A4 was 1.5 times higher than that in rCYP3A5. The PTV metabolism in CYP3A5*1/*1 and CYP3A5*1/*3 HLMs expressing CYP3A5 was comparable to that in CYP3A5*3/*3 HLMs, which lack CYP3A5.

4. CYP3A4 expression level was significantly correlated with PTV disappearance rate and metabolite formation. In contrast, there was no such correlation found for CYP3A5 expression level.

5. This study represents that the major CYP isoform involved in PTV metabolism is CYP3A4, with CYP3A5 having a minor role in PTV metabolism. The findings of the present study may provide foundational information on PTV metabolism, and may further support dosing practices in HCV-infected patients prescribed PTV-based therapy.

     

Inhibitory effects of sesamin on CYP2C9-dependent 7-hydroxylation of S-warfarin

A recent report demonstrated that sesamin strongly and non-competitively inhibits S-warfarin 7-hydroxylation activity in human liver microsomes with a K_i value of 0.2 μM. This finding suggests that sesamin predominantly binds to CYP2C9 at another site for which it has a higher affinity than its affinity for the active site, thereby inhibiting the activity of CYP2C9 non-competitively. In this study, we found that sesamin competitively inhibited the 7-hydroxylation activity of S-warfarin in human liver microsomes with a K_i value of 15.7 μM. In addition, the recombinant CYP2C9-dependent 7-hydroxylation activity of S-warfarin was competitively inhibited by sesamin with a Ki value of 13.1 μM. These results are consistent with the fact that sesamin is a good substrate of CYP2C9, and its activity follows Michaelis-Menten kinetics. As the plasma concentration of sesamin after its administration is usually lower than 0.01 μM, the inhibition of S-warfarin metabolism by sesamin does not appear to be severe.     

In vitro metabolism of 2-ethylhexyldiphenyl phosphate (EHDPHP) by human liver microsomes

2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPHP) is used as flame retardant and plasticizer additive in a variety of consumer products. Since EHDPHP is toxic to aquatic organisms and has been detected in environmental samples, concerns about human exposure and toxicity are emerging. With the aim of identifying human-specific metabolites, the biotransformation of EHDPHP was investigated using human liver microsomes. Using an in silico program (Meteor) for the prediction of metabolites, untargeted screening tools (agilent Mass Hunter) and a suitable analysis platform based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) and quadrupole time-of-flight high resolution mass spectrometer (QTOF-MS), for the first time a wide variety of phases-I and II metabolites of EHDPHP were identified. Mono- and di-hydroxylated metabolites, keto metabolites, mixed keto and hydroxylated metabolites and diphenyl phosphate were the major phase-I metabolites of EHDPHP. Glucuronidated metabolites of phase-I metabolites of EHDPHP were also formed by human liver microsomes. Using these results, we propose a general metabolism pathway for EHDPHP in humans and a number of candidate biomarkers for assessing the human exposure to this ubiquitous phosphate flame retardant and plasticizer in future biomonitoring studies. Furthermore, we provide a template analytical approach based on the combination of untargeted and targeted screening and UPLC–QTOF-MS analysis suitable for use in future metabolism studies.     

In vitro metabolism and inhibitory effects of atractylenolide II on various hepatic CYPs in HLMs

In the present study, we aimed to investigate the interaction between atractylenolide II (AT-II) and CYP450 enzyme in human liver microsomes, and to lay a theoretical foundation for predicting the possible interaction of AT-II in combination with drugs. The chemical inhibition experiment was carried out with specific inhibitors to clarify the CYP450 subtypes affecting the metabolism of AT-II, and the mechanism, kinetics, and type of inhibition of CYP450 enzyme by AT-II were studied by using the probe-based determination method of human liver microsome system with the related data of IC50 and K_i as evaluation indexes. The metabolism of AT-II was affected by CYP1A2, CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 inhibitors, and the highest inhibition rates were 41.35%, 41.97% and 82.45%, respectively. The IC₅₀ values of AT-II to five subtypes of P450 CYP2C9, CYP1A2, CYP2C19, CYP3A4 and CYP2D6 were 69.7, 84.3, 92.4, 173.8 and 190.1 μmol/L, respectively. The K_i values of AT-II to five subtypes of P450 CYP2C9, CYP1A2, CYP2C19, CYP3A4 and CYP2D6 were 190.6, 179.1, > 200, 72.2 and 66.8, respectively. Among these enzymes, AT-II exhibited non-competitive inhibition on CYP1A2, showed competitive inhibition on CYP2C9 and CYP3A4, and displayed mixed AT-II inhibition on CYP2C19 and CYP2D6. CYP1A2, CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 were involved in the AT-II metabolism, and AT-II exhibited different inhibitory mechanisms and strengths for the five subtypes of CYP450.