Microbial biotransformation - an important tool for the study of drug metabolism.

Metabolite identification is an integral part of both preclinical and clinical drug discovery and development. Synthesis of drug metabolites is often required to support definitive identification, preclinical safety studies and clinical trials. Here we describe the use of microbial biotransformation as a tool to produce drug metabolites, complementing traditional chemical synthesis and other biosynthetic methods such as hepatocytes, liver microsomes and recombinant human drug metabolizing enzymes. A workflow is discussed whereby microbial strains are initially screened for their ability to form the putative metabolites of interest, followed by a scale-up to afford quantities sufficient to perform definitive identification and further studies. Examples of the microbial synthesis of several difficult-to-synthesize hydroxylated metabolites and three difficult-to-synthesize glucuronidated metabolites are described, and the use of microbial biotransformation in drug discovery and development is discussed.

In vitro and in vivo characterisation of the metabolism and disposition of suvorexant in humans.

1. Suvorexant (MK-4305, Belsomra®) is a first-in-class dual orexin receptor antagonist approved in the USA and Japan for the treatment of insomnia. The current studies describe suvorexant's absorption, disposition and potential for CYP-mediated drug interactions in humans. 2. Following single oral administration of [(14)C]suvorexant to healthy human subjects, 90% of the radioactivity was recovered (66% in faeces, 23% in urine), primarily as oxidative metabolites. 3. In plasma, suvorexant and M9 were predominant, accounting for 30 and 37% of the total radioactivity, respectively. Metabolite M17 became more prominent (approaching 10%) following multiple daily doses of unlabelled suvorexant. M9 and M17 are not expected to contribute to the pharmacological activity of suvorexant due to reduced orexin receptor binding affinity and limited brain penetration. 4. CYP3A was determined to be the predominant enzyme mediating suvorexant oxidation. In vitro, suvorexant demonstrated reversible inhibition of CYP3A4 and 2C19 (IC50 ∼ 4-5 µM), and weak time-dependent inhibition of CYP3A4 (KI = 12 µM, kinact = 0.14 min(-1)). Suvorexant was also a weak inducer of CYP3A4, 1A2 and 2B6. Given the low plasma concentrations at clinical doses, suvorexant was not anticipated to cause significant drug interactions via inhibition and/or induction of major CYPs in vivo.

In vitro assessment of drug-drug interaction potential of boceprevir associated with drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters.

The inhibitory effect of boceprevir (BOC), an inhibitor of hepatitis C virus nonstructural protein 3 protease was evaluated in vitro against a panel of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters. BOC, a known substrate for cytochrome P450 (P450) CYP3A and aldo-ketoreductases, was a reversible time-dependent inhibitor (k(inact) = 0.12 minute(-1), K(I) = 6.1 µM) of CYP3A4/5 but not an inhibitor of other major P450s, nor of UDP-glucuronosyltransferases 1A1 and 2B7. BOC showed weak to no inhibition of breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP), P-glycoprotein (Pgp), or multidrug resistance protein 2. It was a moderate inhibitor of organic anion transporting polypeptide (OATP) 1B1 and 1B3, with an IC(50) of 18 and 4.9 µM, respectively. In human hepatocytes, BOC inhibited CYP3A-mediated metabolism of midazolam, OATP1B-mediated hepatic uptake of pitavastatin, and both the uptake and metabolism of atorvastatin. The inhibitory potency of BOC was lower than known inhibitors of CYP3A (ketoconazole), OATP1B (rifampin), or both (telaprevir). BOC was a substrate for Pgp and BCRP but not for OATP1B1, OATP1B3, OATP2B1, organic cation transporter, or sodium/taurocholate cotransporting peptide. Overall, our data suggest that BOC has the potential to cause pharmacokinetic interactions via inhibition of CYP3A and CYP3A/OATP1B interplay, with the interaction magnitude lower than those observed with known potent inhibitors. Conversely, pharmacokinetic interactions of BOC, either as a perpetrator or victim, via other major P450s and transporters tested are less likely to be of clinical significance. The results from clinical drug-drug interaction studies conducted thus far are generally supportive of these conclusions.

Using human recombinant UDP-glucuronosyltransferase isoforms and a relative activity factor approach to model total body clearance of laropiprant (MK-0524) in humans.

A major pathway of elimination of the prostaglandin D2 receptor 1 antagonist laropiprant in humans is by uridine diphosphate-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT)-mediated biotransformation. In this study, liver and kidney relative activity factors were developed for UGT1A1, 1A9 and 2B7 to allow for in vitro-in vivo extrapolation of intrinsic clearance data to whole organ clearance using recombinant human UGT isoforms applying this to laropiprant as a model substrate. The total body metabolic clearance of laropiprant determined using this approach (5.0 L/hr) agreed well with the value determined in vivo following intravenous administration to healthy human volunteers (5.1 L/hr). The results suggest that approximately 36%, 36% and 28% of the hepatic metabolic clearance of laropiprant was mediated by UGT1A1, 1A9 and 2B7, respectively. Likewise, 80% and 20% of the renal metabolic clearance was mediated by UGT1A9 and 2B7, respectively. Furthermore, the data suggested that the contribution of the kidney to the overall total metabolic clearance was minor relative to the liver (≈ 12%).

Novel cytochrome P450-mediated ring opening of the 1,3,4-oxadiazole in setileuton, a 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor.

Setileuton [4-(4-fluorophenyl)-7-[({5-[(1S)-1-hydroxy-1-(trifluoromethyl)propyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl}amino)methyl]-2H-1-benzopyran-2-one] is a selective inhibitor of the 5-lipoxygenase enzyme, which is under investigation for the treatment of asthma and atherosclerosis. During the development of setileuton, a metabolite (M5) was identified in incubations with rat, dog, and human liver microsomes that represented the addition of 18 Da to the 1,3,4-oxadiazole portion of the molecule. Based on mass spectral data, a ring opened structure was proposed and confirmed through comparison with a synthetic standard. The metabolic ring opening was examined in vitro in rat liver microsomes and was determined to be mediated by cytochrome P450s (P450s). Upon examination of the specific P450s involved using cDNA-expressed rat P450s, it was shown that CYP1A2 likely was the major isoform contributing to the formation of M5. Studies using stable labeled molecular oxygen and water demonstrated that the oxygen was incorporated from molecular oxygen, rather than water, and confirmed that the metabolic formation was oxidative. An alternative, comparatively slow pathway of chemical hydrolysis also was identified and described. Three potential mechanisms for the two-step metabolic ring opening of the 1,3,4-oxadizole are proposed.