Drug Metabolism Letters - Volume 6, Issue 4, 2012

Chloroform and Halothane are well known hepatotoxic anesthetics for which toxicity is attributed to their reactive metabolites. The molecular level details of reactions leading to the formation of reactive metabolites from chloroform and halothane have not been explored. Potential energy surface (PES) for the formation of phosgene (a toxic intermediate) from Chloroform has been studied using quantum chemical methods. The HOOH mediated reaction of chloroform to give phosgene has been found to be exothermic by 81.24 kcal/mol with a barrier of ∼ 3 kcal/mol through the water catalyzed transition sate. The quantum chemical studies on the reactivity profile of phosgene indicated that urea derivatives need to be considered on the mechanism leading to toxicity. Similarly, metabolic pathways of Halothane oxidation have been studied. The C-H bond dissociation energies (BDE) and radical stabilization energies (RSE) for Chloroform and Halothane (< 95 kcal/mol and > 10 kcal/mol) were found to be significantly different for these toxic anesthetics in comparison to their safer analogues (> 100 kcal/mol and < 5 kcal/mol) respectively; thus these parameters can be employed to distinguish toxic and non-toxic general anesthetics. Enthalpy for the Cpd I, a widely used model for CYP450 enzymes, mediated reactions also agreed well with these results.

Gastrotoxicity is a major problem for long-term therapy with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). DICCIC (1-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)indolin-2-one) is a new diclofenac prodrug, which has proven anti-inflammatory activity without gastroulcerogenic effect. The aim of this work was to compare the pharmacokinetic profiles of diclofenac from DICCIC (7.6 mg/kg equivalent to 8.1 mg/kg diclofenac) and diclofenac (8.1 mg/kg) administration in Wistar rats weighing 250-300 g (n=20). The doses were calculated by interspecific allometric scaling based on the 2 mg/kg from diary human dose of diclofenac. Blood samples were collected in heparinized tubes via the femoral artery through the implanted catheter. The plasma was separated and quantitation was made in a HPLC system with a UV-Vis detector. The confidence limits of the bioanalytical method were appropriate for its application in a preclinical pharmacokinetic study. The AUC of diclofenac from DICCIC (53.7± 5.8 ug/mL.min) was significantly less (Mann Whitney test, p<0.05) than that of diclofenac from diclofenac administration (885.9 ± 124,8 ug/mL.min). Terminal half-life of diclofenac from DICCIC (50.1 ± 17.2 min) was significantly less (Mann Whitney test, p<0.05) than that of diclofenac from diclofenac administration (247.4 ± 100.9 min). Still the parameters clearance and distribution volume were calculated for diclofenac from diclofenac, whose results were 9.2 ±1.2 mL/min.kg and 3.3 ±1.2 L/kg, respectively. The results of DICCIC from DICCIC administration were 108.9 ± 19.6 mL/min.kg and 7.8 ± 2.4 L/kg for clearance and distribution volume, respectively. The pharmacokinetic profile demonstrated that there was an increase in diclofenac elimination and a lower exposure to diclofenac with administration of DICCIC compared to diclofenac.

Objective: Technetium-99m-labelled hexakis-methoxy-isobutyl isonitrile (Tc-99m-MIBI) is a substrate for P-glycoprotein (P-gp), an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter protein, and can be used to image P-gp expression. The aim was to study normal kinetics of Tc-99m-MIBI in the kidney and liver to help understand physiological studies of P-gp expression in these organs. Methods: Thirty healthy kidney transplant donors received intravenous Tc-99m-MIBI followed by dynamic scintigraphy for 20 min and static imaging at 30 and 120 min. Time-activity curves were generated from parenchymal ROI. An assumed mono-exponential Tc-99m-MIBI blood clearance with rate constant of 0.3 min-1 was used to predict the Tc-99m- MIBI that would have accumulated in the organs had none left. The activities leaving were then calculated by subtraction and expressed as percentages of the predicted total accumulated activities. Results: Kidney time-activity curves peaked at 2-4 min then declined to a plateau from ∼15-16 min equal to 31 [SD 5]% of the total activity accumulated (corresponding to 69 [5]% rapidly eliminated) (phase 1). Bladder activity followed a similar but opposite time course. Between 30 and 120 min (phase 2), activity left at 0.36 (0.13) %.min-1. Liver curves peaked at 8-10 min. Differentiation of the elimination curve revealed that a variable proportion of tracer (5-56%; mean 30 [14]%) was rapidly excreted over ∼11 min. From 30 min, activity left at 1.02 (0.23) %.min-1. There was no correlation between renal and hepatic elimination rates in either phase or between early and late phase elimination rates in either organ. Conclusions: Early renal elimination is predominantly via glomerular filtration and urinary excretion. The liver rapidly excretes a more variable and lower proportion of Tc-99m-MIBI than the kidney. P-gp located at the urine/tubule and bile/hepatocyte boundaries prevents Tc-99m-MIBI re-entering cells and thereby influences elimination and retention in both phases, although other ABC transporters are probably also involved.

Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is the recommended treatment of uncomplicated P.falciparum malaria by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Some artemisinin compounds and anti-retroviral drugs have been shown to be metabolized by CYP2B6. In the African clinical settings, the likelihood of co-administration of ACTs and antiretroviral drugs is higher than elsewhere, posing the risk of drug-drug interactions (DDIs). This study aimed to investigate whether artemisinin compounds inhibit CYP2B6 activity in vitro using recombinant CYP2B6 (rCYP2B6) and human liver microsomes (HLM). Values for IC50 and Ki were determined by kinetic analyses using non-linear regression. In vitro to in vivo extrapolations of the likelihood of DDIs where done using a static [I]/Ki approach. Artemisinin and artemether were shown to inhibit CYP2B6 in vitro through a partial mixed type of inhibition, while dihydroartemisinin did not inhibit the enzymatic activity. IC50 values for artemisinin were 9.5 and 9.1 µM for rCYP2B6 and HLM, respectively, after 30 min of incubation. Corresponding values for artemether were 7.5 and 5.4 µM. Artemisinin did not show any time-dependency or requirement of NADPH in its mechanism, indicating a reversible mode of inhibition. Based on the [I]/Ki approach using rCYP2B6, the risk of DDIs for artemisinin was indicated to be medium to high, while artemether had a low risk. The findings indicate a potential but moderate risk of DDIs in the co-administration of artemisinin or artemether with efavirenz in the co-treatment of malaria and HIV/AIDS.

Toxification of benzylic alcohols (e.g. hydroxymethylpyrenes) by sulfotransferases is efficiently competed by alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs). We are interested in drugs and food constituents affecting this detoxification. Daidzein and cimetidine were reported to inhibit ADH1C-mediated ethanol oxidation. Surprisingly, we found that both modulators enhance the oxidation of 4-hydroxymethylpyrene by ADH1C. This activation was seen with either delivering solvents used, dimethylsulfoxide or acetonitrile. Addition of dimethylsulfoxide, but not acetonitrile, converted daidzein and cimetidine from inhibitors to activators of the ADH1C-mediated oxidation of the other substrate studied, ethanol (added in water). Other human ADH forms (ADH2, 3, 4) were inhibited by both agents independently of the substrate and the corresponding solvent used. Kinetic constants for the various reactions are presented. ADH1C was unique in its complex substrate-dependent interaction with daidzein/cimetidine and solvents.

Metabolite identification can provide tremendous value in identifying metabolic soft-spots on molecules of interest and to evaluate the potential for generating reactive species. This information is useful in designing stable analogs with acceptable drug-like properties. Two key compounds were found to generate major metabolites that could not be elucidated by mass spectrometry. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a non-destructive method to obtain structural information. It requires milligram quantities of putative metabolites, typically unavailable in early stage discovery projects. Herein, we demonstrated the application of NMR using microgram quantities of samples to identify the structures of the major metabolites of two discovery compounds. In the first case, we studied structural elucidation of a Nglucuronide on a pyrazole moiety using 1H-NMR due to the instability of the glucuronidated metabolite under mass spectrometric conditions. In the second example, we characterized two oxidized metabolites having identical mass fragmentation using 2D-NMR. In both cases, chemists incorporated these findings into designing analogs to improve metabolic stability.

Naturally occurring flavonoids are known to be metabolized by several cytochrome P450 enzymes including P450s 1A1, 1A2, 1B1, 2C9, 3A4, and 3A5. In general flavonoids can act as substrates, inducers, and/or inhibitors of P450 enzymes. The position of the substituents on the flavone backbone has been shown to impact the biological activity against P450 enzymes. To explore the effect of a propargyl ether substitution on flavones and flavanones, 2´-flavone propargyl ether (2´-PF), 3´-flavone propargyl ether (3´-PF), 4´-flavone propargyl ether (4´-PF), 5-flavone propargyl ether (5-PF), 6-flavone propargyl ether (6-PF), 7-flavone propargyl ether (7-PF), 6-flavanone propargyl ether (6-PFN), and 7- flavanone propargyl ether (7-PFN) were synthesized. All of the newly synthesized compounds and the parent hydroxy flavones were tested for both direct inhibition and mechanism-based inhibition of cytochrome P450 enzymes 1A1, 1A2, 2A6, and 2B1. The flavone propargyl ether derivatives were found to be more potent inhibitors of P450s 1A1 and 1A2. None of the flavones and flavanones in our study showed any inhibition of P450 2A6. Only 2´-PF and 6-PFN inhibited P450 2B1. 3´-PF showed direct inhibition of P450 1A1 with the highest observed potency of 0.02 µM, in addition to its ability to cause mechanism-based inhibition with KI and kinactivation values of 0.24 µM and 0.09 min-1 for this enzyme. 7- Hydroxy flavone also exhibited mechanism-based inhibition of P450 1A1 with KI and kinactivation values of 2.43 µM and 0.115 min-1. Docking studies and QSAR studies on P450 enzymes 1A1 and 1A2 were performed which revealed important insights into the nature of binding of these molecules and provided us with good QSAR models that can be used to design new flavone derivatives.

To provide a fast assessment in predicting P-gp-mediated DDI risk during early stage of drug development, a transcellular P-gp inhibition assay using two concentrations is presented in the present study. The efflux ratios of loperamide in the presence of forty-five commercial compounds at two concentrations were measured and compared to that of six concentrations in human P-gp cDNA-expressing LLC-PK1 cells (LLC-MDR1). The inhibition potency calculated from the change on the efflux ratio (ER) and on the net secretory flux (NSF) of loperamide was investigated. The P-gp inhibition potency was defined as potent (IC50 < 1 µM), moderate (1 µM < IC50 < 10 µM), or weak (IC50 > 10 µM). The results using 1 µM and 10 µM of inhibitor concentrations provided the best correlation and are most consistent with those generated from a 6-point approach.