Torsemide renal clearance and genetic variation in luminal and basolateral organic anion transporters.

AIMS: To investigate the association between torsemide renal clearance and genetic variation in the basolaterally expressed renal organic anion transporters OAT1 and OAT3 and in the luminally situated OAT4. METHODS: We analysed 22 polymorphisms in the OAT coding genes SLC22A6, SLC22A8 and SLC22A11 and their haplotypes and measured torsemide renal clearance in 95 healthy men. In addition, the effect of torsemide on the OAT-mediated transport was studied in vitro. RESULTS: In stably transfected HEK293 cells torsemide (100 microm) inhibited the uptake by human OAT1, OAT3 and OAT4 by 63.1, 58.1 and 68.0%, respectively. Torsemide renal clearance ranged from 6.5 to 43.1 ml min(-1) with a log-normal distribution and a geometric mean of 15.6 ml min(-1) (15.0-16.1 +/- SEM). No clear outlier group was observed. AA carriers of the polymorphism rs11231809 in SLC22A11 had a torsemide renal clearance of 13.3 ml min(-1) (12.7-13.9) compared with 15.1 ml min(-1) (14.5-15.8) in AT and 18.0 ml min(-1) (16.7-19.5) in TT carriers (P = 0.002). The two most frequent haplotypes at SLC22A11 showed an association with torsemide renal clearance. Homozygous carriage of these two haplotypes resulted in renal clearances of 21.2 ml min(-1) (19.0-23.7) and 11.8 ml min(-1) (10.5-13.5), respectively. No association between reanl clearance and genetic variation in SLC22A6 or SLC22A8 was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic variation in the gene encoding the luminally expressed OAT4 rather than in the basolaterally expressed OATs may affect the renal clearance of torsemide.

Improved solid-phase extraction and HPLC measurement of torasemide and its important metabolites.

Torasemide is a "loop type" diuretic drug. For pharmacokinetic studies sensitive analytic methods are essential for authentic qualitative and quantitative information. A robust, selective and sensitive HPLC method is described for the simultaneous determination of torasemide, its major metabolite M5 and its active metabolites M1 and M3 and an internal standard within 17 min. Solid-phase extraction with C(2)-cartridges was used for the clean-up of plasma samples. The chromatographic separation was carried out on a CN-column with a mobile phase consisting of perchloric acid (0.02 M, pH 2.5)/acetonitrile (90/10, v/v)). The calibration range used reached from 20 to 1000 ng/ml for all analytes. Coefficients of variation were less than 10% at every calibration point for each analyte. Plasma concentrations in samples obtained from volunteers in the course of a clinical study could be reliably measured with this method. Median maximum concentrations in plasma after a 10mg oral dose during a 24h study interval were located at 1h for torasemide, 1h for M1 and 2h for M5. Concentrations between 2226 and <20 ng/ml for torasemide, between 159 and <20 ng/ml for M1 and between 420 and <20 ng/ml for M5 were observed.

CYP2C9 polymorphisms and the interindividual variability in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the loop diuretic drug torsemide.

INTRODUCTION: According to in vitro data, torsemide (INN, torasemide) is a substrate of the genetically polymorphic enzyme cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C9, but the impact of CYP2C9 polymorphisms on torsemide pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics has not been studied in humans. METHODS: A total of 36 healthy volunteers (12, 9, 1, 9, 3, and 2 carriers of CYP2C9 genotypes *1/*1 , *1/*2 , *2/*2 , *1/*3 , *2/*3 , and *3/*3 , respectively) received a single oral dose of 10 mg torsemide for pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analysis. The effects of the CYP2C9 polymorphism on torsemide-induced urine volume and urinary elimination of sodium, potassium, chloride, and uric acid were measured during a salt-restricted diet. RESULTS: Median torsemide total oral clearance values were 3.4, 2.2, and 1.2 L/h in carriers of the CYP2C9 genotypes *1/*1 , *1/*3 , and *3/*3 , respectively, but there was no significant difference related to CYP2C9*2 . Values for metabolite formation clearance via metabolites M1 and M5 were 1.4, 1.7, 1.4, 1.0, 0.77, and 0.18 L/h in carriers of genotypes *1/*1 , *1/*2 , *2/*2 , *1/*3 , *2/*3 , and *3/*3 , respectively (P < .001). From 0 to 8 hours after torsemide administration, Na + , K + , and Cl - elimination was higher in carriers of CYP2C9*3 alleles than in carriers of the homozygous wild-type genotype, and 24-hour uric acid elimination values in urine were 451, 350, and 249 mg in carriers of 0, 1, and 2 CYP2C9*3 alleles, respectively (P = .003). CONCLUSION: Torsemide pharmacokinetics differed significantly between subgroups with different CYP2C9 genotypes, and diuretic effects were slightly more exaggerated in carriers of CYP2C9*3 alleles. To answer the question of whether these findings have clinical implications, further studies in patients undergoing long-term torsemide treatment are required.