Retraction Note to: Identification of CYP3A4 as the primary cytochrome P450 responsible for the metabolism of tandospirone by human liver microsomes.

The publisher has retracted this article [1] because it is an incorrect version that was published in error: Figures 5 and 6 are missing.

Time-dependent inhibition (TDI) of CYP1A2 by a CYP3A4-mediated reactive metabolite: proposal for a novel mechanism of irreversible TDI by a non-suicide substrate.

1. The purpose of this study was to clarify the mechanism of DSP-1053 time-dependent inhibition (TDI) for CYP1A2. 2. DSP-1053 inhibited time- and concentration-dependently CYP1A2 activity in human liver microsomes even in a dilution assay. However, DSP-1053 was not metabolized by recombinant human CYP1A2. These findings indicate that the inhibitory effect of DSP-1053 on CYP1A2 does not follow a general mechanism-based inhibition (MBI) because it did not seem to be a suicide substrate. 3. In fact, CYP1A2 was not inhibited with DSP-1053 pre-incubation in recombinant human CYP1A2. On the other hand, CYP1A2 was potently inhibited after pre-incubation with DSP-1053 in a mixture of human recombinant CYP1A2 and CYP3A4. In addition, DSP-1053 TDI of CYP1A2 in human liver microsomes was drastically reduced not only by addition of a CYP3A4 inhibitor, but also by addition of potassium cyanide (KCN), which is a trapping agent for iminium ions. We also confirmed in this study that CYP1A2 suicide inhibition by DSP-1053 metabolites generated by CYP3A4 had only minimal role in DSP-1053 TDI of CYP1A2. 4. In conclusion, a possible mechanism for DSP-1053 TDI of CYP1A2 is that DSP-1053 iminium ion, which is generated by CYP3A4, departs from CYP3A4 without inhibiting it and covalently binds to CYP1A2.

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, a useful endogenous probe for evaluation of drug-drug interaction on hepatic organic anion transporting polypeptide (OATP) in cynomolgus monkeys.

Since drug-drug interaction (DDI) can affect organic anion-transporting polypeptide (OATP) and cause clinical events, prediction of such DDI is important in early clinical development. Although statins are useful probes for OATP-mediated DDI, endogenous probes would be more practical for predicting such DDI. In this study, we investigate the possible use of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), an endogenous OATP substrate, in predicting OATP-mediated DDI in cynomolgus monkeys as a first step toward in human assessment. In in vitro experiments, both human and cynomolgus monkey hepatocytes showed a time- and temperature-dependent DHEAS uptake. Rifampicin (RIF), a typical OATP inhibitor, inhibited this uptake, indicating the involvement of OATP in DHEAS uptake. In in vivo experiments, the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) and maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) of DHEAS were significantly increased following administration of RIF 10 mg/kg, although the extent of this increase was lower than that observed with the test-statins used in this study. However, based on the results of in vitro hepatic DHEAS uptake, changes in DHEAS concentration are expected to be more prominent in human than in monkey. This shows for the first time that DHEAS may be used as endogenous probe for predicting OATP-mediated DDI.

Translational research into species differences of endocrine toxicity via steroidogenesis inhibition by SMP-028--for human safety in clinical study.

SMP-028 is a drug candidate developed for the treatment of asthma. In a 13-week repeated dose toxicity study of SMP-028 in rats and monkeys, differences of endocrine toxicological events between rats and monkeys were observed. In rats, these toxicological events mainly consisted of pathological changes in the adrenal, testis, ovary, and the other endocrine-related organs. On the other hand, in monkeys, no toxicological events were observed. The goal of this study is to try to understand the reason why only rats, but not monkeys, showed toxicological events following treatment with SMP-028 and to eventually predict the possible toxicological effect of this compound on human endocrine organs. Our results show that SMP-028 inhibits neutral cholesterol esterase more strongly than other steroidogenic enzymes in rats. Although SMP-028 also inhibits monkeys and human neutral cholesterol esterase, this inhibition is much weaker than that of rat neutral cholesterol esterase. These results indicate (1) that the difference in endocrine toxicological events between rats and monkeys is mainly due to inhibition of steroidogenesis by SMP-028 in rats, not in monkeys, and (2) that SMP-028 may not affect steroidogenesis in humans and therefore might cause no endocrine toxicological events in clinical studies.

Effect of SMP-028 on steroidogenesis in rats; mechanism of toxicological events on endocrine organs of rats.

SMP-028 is a new compound for treatment of asthma. Oral administration of SMP-028 to rats was associated with toxicological events in endocrine organs. These events mainly consisted of pathological changes in the adrenal gland, testis, prostate, seminal vesicle, ovaries, and uterus. In this study, we set to clarify whether SMP-028 inhibits steroidogenesis in primary culture cells obtained from rat endocrine organs in vitro. Adrenal cells, testicular cells, and ovarian cells were treated with SMP-028 and the production of steroid hormones, i.e., progesterone, aldosterone, corticosterone, total testosterone, and estradiol from these cells was measured by radioimmunoassay. We found that the production of progesterone from these cells treated with SMP-028 at 1 µM decreased to 16-67% that of the control. These findings indicate that SMP-028 inhibits steroidogenesis in rat endocrine organs in vitro. Considering that free maximum concentration in rats treated with SMP-028 are higher than the IC50 values for the inhibition of steroidogenesis in vitro, it is therefore believed that the toxicological events seen in rats following treatment with SMP-028 are due to inhibition of steroidogenesis in vivo.

Transport of biguanides by human organic cation transporter OCT2.

Biguanides have the severe side effect of lactic acidosis. Although both metformin and phenformin are biguanide derivatives, there is a difference in the frequency at which they induce lactic acidosis. However, the reasons for the difference are not clear. Metformin has been reported to be mainly excreted into urine by human organic cation transporter 2 (hOCT2). The present study was designed to investigate the renal transport of metformin and phenformin, focusing on hOCT2, using hOCT2-expressing oocytes. Both biguanides were found to be good substrates for hOCT2. However, phenformin exhibited a higher affinity and transport activity than metformin. The Km values for metformin and phenformin were 235 and 37.4 µM, with CL(int) (V(max)/K(m)) values of 71.9×10⁻³ µL/min per oocyte and 209×10⁻³ µL/min per oocyte, respectively. This is the first report that has compared the transport profiles of these biguanides in hOCT2-expressing oocytes. The results suggest that plasma concentration of phenformin in subjects carrying hOCT2 variant may be higher compared to reference subjects, as reported in metformin. In addition, the relationship between plasma concentration of these biguanides and blood lactate level as well as the possible reasons for the difference in the associated frequency of occurrence of lactic acidosis are discussed.

Species differences in hepatic and intestinal metabolic activities for 43 human cytochrome P450 substrates between humans and rats or dogs.

1. Prediction of human pharmacokinetics might be made more precise by using species with similar metabolic activities to humans. We had previously reported the species differences in intestinal and hepatic metabolic activities of 43 cytochrome P450 (CYP) substrates between cynomolgus monkeys and humans. However, the species differences between humans and rats or dogs had not yet been determined using comparable data sets with sufficient number of compounds. 2. Here, we investigated metabolic stabilities in intestinal and liver microsomes obtained from rats, dogs and humans using 43 substrates of human CYP1A2, CYP2J2, CYP2C, CYP2D6 and CYP3A. 3. Hepatic intrinsic clearance (CLint) values for most compounds in dogs were comparable to those in humans (within 10-fold), whereas in rats, those for the human CYP2D6 substrates were much higher and showed low correlation with humans. In dog intestine, as with human intestine, CLint values for almost all human CYP1A2, CYP2C, CYP2D6 substrates were not determined because they were very low. Intestinal CLint values for human CYP3A substrates in rats and dogs appeared to be lower for most of the compounds and showed moderate correlation with those in humans. 4. In conclusion, dogs showed the most similar metabolic activity to humans.

Significance of reductive metabolism in human intestine and quantitative prediction of intestinal first-pass metabolism by cytosolic reductive enzymes.

The number of new drug candidates that are cleared via non-cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes has increased. However, unlike oxidation by P450, the roles of reductive enzymes are less understood. The metabolism in intestine is especially not well known. The purposes of this study were to investigate the significance of reductive metabolism in human intestine, and to establish a quantitative prediction method of intestinal first-pass metabolism by cytosolic reductive enzymes, using haloperidol, mebendazole, and ziprasidone. First, we estimated the metabolic activities for these compounds in intestine and liver using subcellular fractions. Metabolic activities were detected in human intestinal cytosol (HIC) for all three compounds, and the intrinsic clearance values were higher than those in human liver cytosol for haloperidol and mebendazole. These metabolic activities in HIC were NADPH- and/or NADH-dependent. Furthermore, the metabolic activities for all three compounds in HIC were largely inhibited by menadione, which has been used as a carbonyl reductase (CBR)-selective chemical inhibitor. Therefore, considering subcellular location, cofactor requirement, and chemical inhibition, these compounds might be metabolized by CBRs in human intestine. Subsequently, we tried to quantitatively predict intestinal availability (F(g)) for these compounds using human intestinal S9 (HIS9). Our prediction model using apparent permeability of parallel artificial membrane permeability assay and metabolic activities in HIS9 could predict F(g) in humans for the three compounds well. In conclusion, CBRs might have higher metabolic activities in human intestine than in human liver. Furthermore, our prediction method of human F(g) using HIS9 is applicable to substrates of cytosolic reductive enzymes.

Blonanserin, a novel atypical antipsychotic agent not actively transported as substrate by P-glycoprotein.

Although blonanserin, a novel atypical antipsychotic agent with dopamine D(2)/serotonin 5-HT(2A) antagonistic properties, displays good brain distribution, the mechanism of this distribution has not been clarified. P-glycoprotein [(P-gp) or multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1)] is an efflux transporter expressed in the brain and plays an important role in limiting drug entry into the central nervous system (CNS). In particular, P-gp can affect the pharmacokinetics and efficacy of antipsychotics, and exacerbate or soothe their adverse effects. In this study, we conducted in vitro and in vivo experiments to determine whether blonanserin is a P-gp substrate. Risperidone and its active metabolite 9-hydroxyrisperidone, both of which are P-gp substrates, were used as reference drugs. Affinity of blonanserin, risperidone, and 9-hydroxyrisperidone for P-gp was evaluated by in vitro transcellular transport across LLC-PK1, human MDR1 cDNA-transfected LLC-PK1 (LLC-MDR1), and mouse Mdr1a cDNA-transfected LLC-PK1 (LLC-Mdr1a). In addition, pharmacokinetic parameters in the brain and plasma (B/P ratio) of test compounds were measured in mdr1a/1b knockout (KO) and wild-type (WT) mice. The results of in vitro experiments revealed that P-gp does not actively transport blonanserin as a substrate in humans or mice. In addition, blonanserin displayed comparable B/P ratios in KO and WT mice, whereas B/P ratios of risperidone and 9-hydroxyrisperidone differed markedly in these animals. Our results indicate that blonanserin is not a P-gp substrate and therefore its brain distribution is unlikely to be affected by this transporter.

A new methodology for simultaneous quantification of total-Aß, Aßx-38, Aßx-40, and Aßx-42 by column-switching LC/MS/MS.

This article details the development of a novel method that overcomes the drawbacks of sandwich ELISA (sELISA) and allows reliable evaluation of simultaneous quantification of the amyloid (Aß)-peptides, total-Aß, Aßx-38, Aßx-40, and Aßx-42, in rat brain by optimized sample purification and column-switching liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). This method provides accurate analyses of total-Aß, Aßx-38, Aßx-40, and Aßx-42 with a linear calibration range between 0.05 and 45 ng/mL. Verification for accuracy and precision of biological samples were determined by a standard addition and recovery test, spiked with synthetic Aß1-38, Aß1-40, and Aß1-42 into the rat brain homogenate. This method showed <20% relative error and relative standard deviation, indicating high reproducibility and reliability. The brain concentrations of total-Aß, Aßx-38, Aßx-40, and Aßx-42 after oral administration of flurbiprofen in rats were measured by this method. Aßx-42 concentrations (4.57 ± 0.69 ng/g) in rats administered flurbiprofen were lower than those in untreated rats (6.48 ± 0.93 ng/g). This was consistent with several reports demonstrating that NSAIDs reduced the generation of Aß. We report here a method that allows not only the quantification of specific molecular species of Aß but also simultaneous quantification of total-Aß, Aßx-38, Aßx-40, and Aßx-42, thus overcoming the drawbacks of sELISA.

Prediction of the intestinal first-pass metabolism of CYP3A and UGT substrates in humans from in vitro data.

This study aimed to establish a practical and simplified method of predicting intestinal availability in humans (F(g,human)) at the drug discovery stage using in vitro metabolic clearance values and permeability clearance values. A prediction model for F(g,human) of 19 CYP3A substrates and 5 UGT substrates was constructed based on the concept that the permeability clearance values mean the permeability across the basal membrane with a pH of 7.4 on both sides. Permeability clearance values were obtained by parallel artificial membrane permeability assay (PAMPA) at pH 7.4. PAMPA is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry as the earliest primary screening stage and enables estimation of the kinetics of transport by passive diffusion. For CYP3A substrates, the metabolic clearance was obtained from in vitro intrinsic clearance values in human intestinal or hepatic microsomes (CL(int,HIM) or CL(int,HLM), respectively). Using metabolic clearances corrected by the ratio of CL(int,HIM) to CL(int,HLM), HLM showed equivalent predictability to that of HIM for CYP3A substrates. For UGT substrates, the clearance was obtained from alamethicin-activated HIM using one incubation with both NADPH and UDPGA cofactors. The method proposed in this study could predict F(g,human) for the compounds investigated and represents a simplified method based on a new concept applicable to lower permeability compounds.

Liver uptake of biguanides in rats.

Metformin is an oral antihyperglycaemic agent widely used in the management of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The liver is the primary target, metformin being taken up into human and rat hepatocytes via an active transport mechanism. The present study was designed to compare hepatic uptake of two biguanides, metformin and phenformin, in vitro and in vivo. In in vitro experiments, performed using rat cryopreserved hepatocytes, phenformin exhibited a much higher affinity and transport than metformin, with marked differences in kinetics. The K(m) values for metformin and phenformin were 404 and 5.17µM, respectively, with CLint (V(max)/K(m)) values 1.58µl/min per 10(6) cells and 34.7µl/min per 10(6) cells. In in vivo experiments, when (14)C-metformin and (14)C-phenformin were given orally to male rats at a dose of 50mg/kg, the liver concentrations of radioactivity at 0.5 hour after dosing were 21.5µg eq./g with metformin but 147.1µg eq./g for phenformin, ratios of liver to plasma concentrations being 4.2 and 61.3, respectively. In conclusion, the results suggest that uptake of biguanides by rat hepatocytes is in line with the liver distribution found in vivo, phenformin being more efficiently taken up by liver than metformin after oral administration.

Pharmacokinetics of miriplatin in experimental dog models of hepatic or renal impairment.

Miriplatin is an anticancer platinum complex for treatment of hepatocellular carcinomas by intra-hepatic arterial injection suspended in an iodinated ethyl ester of fatty acids from poppy seed oil as a carrier. Effects of liver and kidney function on( 14)C-miriplatin pharmacokinetics were assessed using dog models of hepatic and renal impairment introduced by thioacetamide exposure and 7/8 nephrectomy, respectively. Miriplatin was selectively delivered to the liver; platinum and radioactive component were gradually released into systemic circulation and excreted into urine. Microautoradiographic analysis of liver specimens showed( 14)C-miriplatin to be localized in blood vessels and/or macrophage-like cells. These features of miriplatin disposition were not affected by hepatic impairment. Thus, in clinical settings, hepatic impairment would not be expected to affect the intra-hepatic distribution and systemic pharmacokinetics of miriplatin. In dogs with renal impairment, although inconclusive, plasma concentrations of ultrafilterable platinum and radioactivity increased due to reduction in renal clearance.

Species differences in intestinal metabolic activities of cytochrome P450 isoforms between cynomolgus monkeys and humans.

The oral bioavailability of some drugs is markedly lower in cynomolgus monkeys than in humans. One of the reasons for the low bioavailability in cynomolgus monkeys may be the higher metabolic activity of intestinal CYP3A; however, the species differences in intestinal metabolic activities of other CYP isoforms between cynomolgus monkeys and humans are not well known. In the present study, we investigated the intrinsic clearance (CL(int)) values in pooled intestinal microsomes from cynomolgus monkeys and humans using 25 substrates of human CYP1A2, CYP2J2, CYP2C, and CYP2D6. As in humans, intestinal CL(int) values of human CYP1A2 and CYP2D6 substrates in cynomolgus monkeys were low. On the other hand, intestinal CL(int) values of human CYP2J2 and CYP2C substrates in cynomolgus monkeys were greatly higher than those in humans. Using immunoinhibitory antibodies and chemical inhibitors, we showed that the higher intestinal CL(int) values of the human CYP2J2 and CYP2C substrates in cynomolgus monkeys might be caused by monkey CYP4F and CYP2C subfamily members, respectively. In conclusion, there is a possibility that the greatly higher metabolic activity of CYP2C and CYP4F in cynomolgus monkey intestine is one of the causes of the species difference of intestinal first-pass metabolism between cynomolgus monkeys and humans.

Prediction of the intestinal first-pass metabolism of CYP3A substrates in humans using cynomolgus monkeys.

To select high bioavailability compounds, it is necessary to predict the first-pass metabolism in the intestine. However, in vitro-in vivo predictions of the intestinal metabolism have proven both challenging and less definitive. The purpose of this study was to investigate prediction of intestinal first-pass metabolism in humans using cynomolgus monkeys. First, we investigated intrinsic metabolic activities in intestinal microsomes of monkeys (MIM) and humans (HIM) (CL(int, MIM) and CL(int, HIM), respectively) of 18 CYP3A substrates. The CL(int, MIM) values were found to be relatively high and showed excellent correlation with the CL(int, HIM) values. Subsequently, we determined the plasma concentrations of 9 CYP3A substrates (buspirone, carbamazepine, diazepam, felodipine, midazolam, nicardipine, nifedipine, saquinavir, and verapamil) in monkeys after an oral dose of 2 mg/kg with or without an oral dose of 5 mg/kg ketoconazole and calculated AUC((+vehicle))/AUC((+ketoconazole)), defined as F(g, monkey(observed)); we confirmed that the dose of ketoconazole inhibited only intestinal CYP3A metabolism by preliminary in vitro and in vivo experiments using ketoconazole. The F(g, monkey(observed)) was lower than the F(g, human(observed)) for most compounds, but moderate correlation was observed. Furthermore, using these data, we established a new methodology to estimate F(g, human(predicted)) more precisely on the basis of the assumption that intestinal physiological conditions other than intrinsic metabolic activity would be the same between monkeys and humans. In conclusion, the in vivo model using cynomolgus monkeys in this study is useful for prediction of intestinal first-pass metabolism by CYP3A in humans because it was able to predict F(g, human) of all nine compounds investigated.

Development of relevant assay system to identify steroidogenic enzyme inhibitors.

Steroidogenesis in the adrenals, testes, and ovaries plays an important roles in hormonal homeostasis in vivo and is mediated by various enzymes, such as acid cholesterol esterase (CEase), neutral CEase, CYP11A, 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD), CYP21, CYP11B, CYP17, CYP19 and 17beta-HSD. Compounds that are potent inhibitors of one or more steroidogenic enzymes can thus cause serious endocrine toxicity so that relevant assay systems for detecting such enzyme inhibition are useful for safety assessment. Methods already reported involve incubation of radiolabeled steroid precursors with enzyme sources followed by separation of products by TLC or other methods. However, it is unclear whether the systems in use are kinetically-optimized (i.e., reactions performed in the linear range in terms of both reaction time and substrate concentrations), so that they might not be applicable for appropriate inhibition studies. The purpose of this present study was to establish kinetically-optimized methods for rat adrenal, testis, and ovary tissues with radio-HPLC. After development of HPLC methods for separation of precursor substrates and derived metabolites, we investigated the time course and substrate concentration dependence of individual reactions, using radiolabeled substrates and enzyme sources (mitochondria-lysosomal, microsomal, and cytosolic fractions from rat adrenal, testis and ovary tissues). Linearity of metabolism was confirmed in terms of both reaction time and substrate concentrations, and we conclude that this approach can be utilized to assess the inhibition profiles of compounds impacting on steroidogenic enzyme activity.

Pharmacokinetics characterization of liposomal amphotericin B: investigation of clearance process and drug interaction potential.

AmBisome, a liposomal formulation of amphotericin B (CAS 1397-89-3, L-AMB), shows different pharmacokinetics from the conventional formulation, amphotericin B deoxycholate (D-AMB). To characterize the clearance process of L-AMB, the form in which it exists in rat plasma, pharmacokinetics in hepatic or renal failure rats, cellular distribution in rat liver, and placental and milk transfer in rat were investigated. Furthermore, to predict the drug-drug interaction, in vitro metabolism of amphotericin B (AMB) by rat, dog and human liver S9 fraction, and effects of L-AMB on drug-metabolizing enzyme systems were investigated. L-AMB was found to exist stably as a liposomal form in rat plasma without any notable transfer to milk or fetus in rats. After administration to hepatic failure rats, the CLtot of AMB decreased to 1/4 and the Vdss decreased to 1/8 compared with the control rat case. In contrast, after administration to renal failure rats, plasma AUC of AMB did not significantly change compared with sham-operated rats. These data suggest that hepatic clearance is the main determinant of the CLtot for L-AMB. In rat liver, L-AMB was distributed mainly to non-parenchymal cells. In the in vitro metabolism study using liver S9 fraction, no metabolite peaks were observed. After repeated administration of L-AMB to rats, there was no change in parameters related to the drug-metabolising enzyme system in liver microsomes. These data demonstrate that clinically significant metabolism-based drug interaction with L-AMB should be less likely.

Evaluation of the potential for drug-induced liver injury based on in vitro covalent binding to human liver proteins.

Prediction of idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is difficult, and the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. However, many drugs causing DILI are considered to form reactive metabolites and covalently bind to cellular macromolecules in the liver. The objective of this study was to clarify whether the risk of idiosyncratic DILI can be estimated by comparing in vitro covalent binding (CB) levels among 12 positive compounds (acetaminophen, alpidem, bromfenac, carbamazepine, diclofenac, flutamide, imipramine, nefazodone, tacrine, ticlopidine, tienilic acid, and troglitazone) for DILI and 12 negative compounds (acetylsalicylic acid, caffeine, dexamethasone, losartan, ibuprofen, paroxetine, pioglitazone, rosiglitazone, sertraline, theophylline, venlafaxine, and zolpidem). After incubation with human liver microsomes in the presence of NADPH, there was a large overlap in the distribution of CB amounts between the positive and negative groups. On addition of UDP-glucuronic acid (UDPGA) as a cofactor for glucuronidation, the CB levels of bromfenac and diclofenac were increased. With addition of nucleophilic glutathione (GSH), values for most compounds were decreased. However, separation of the two groups on the basis of CB could not be improved by UDPGA or GSH. Furthermore, CB with human hepatocytes also failed to discriminate positive from negative compounds. Therefore, the CB amount alone is not sufficient for risk assessment of DILI. In contrast, when the CB amount was multiplied by the maximum daily dose, which may reflect maximum hepatic exposure, the two groups did become discriminated. Taken together, our findings suggest that the combination of CB amount and daily dose can estimate the risk of idiosyncratic DILI.

A comparison of uptake of metformin and phenformin mediated by hOCT1 in human hepatocytes.

Metformin, a biguanide that has been used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus, is reportedly transported into human hepatocytes by human organic cation transporter 1 (hOCT1). The objective of this study was to investigate differences in the hepatic uptake of metformin and phenformin, a biguanide derivative similar to metformin. Special focus was on the role of active transport into cells. Experiments were therefore performed using human cryopreserved hepatocytes and hOCT1 expressing oocytes. Both biguanides proved to be good substrates for hOCT1. However, phenformin exhibited a much higher affinity and transport activity, with a marked difference in uptake kinetics compared with metformin. Both biguanides were transported actively by hOCT1, with the active transport components much greater than passive transport components in both cases, suggesting that functional changes in hOCT1 might affect the transport of both compounds to the same degree. This study for the first time produced detailed comparative findings for uptake profiles of metformin and phenformin in human hepatocytes and hOCT1 expressing oocytes. It is considered that hOCT1 may not be the only key factor that determines the frequency of metformin and phenformin toxicity, considering the major contribution of this transporter to the total hepatic uptake and comparable width of their therapeutic concentrations.

Identification of CYP3A4 as the primary cytochrome P450 responsible for the metabolism of tandospirone by human liver microsomes.

The present study was carried out to characterize the human P450 isoforms involved in the metabolism of tandospirone, an anxiolytic agent known for its superior efficacy and safety. Among 11 yeast-expressed recombinant P450 isoforms tested, CYP2D6 and CYP3A4 exhibited the highest tandospirone metabolic activity. Although there was no qualitative difference between the two isoforms, a quantitative difference in metabolite profiling was found i.e., M4 (hydroxylation of the pyrimidine ring) was the major metabolite formed with CYP2D6 while M2 (hydroxylation of the norbornan ring) and 1-PP (oxidative cleavage of the butyl chain) predominated with CYP3A4. The metabolite profile on incubation with CYP3A4 was qualitatively and quantitatively similar to that obtained with human liver microsomes. In vitro intrinsic clearance (CLint) values derived from kinetic analysis using both P450 isoforms were similar (2.2 and 1.6 ml/min/nmol P450), but the hepatic content of CYP3A4 was found to be more abundant than that of CYP2D6. The in vitro metabolism of tandospirone by human liver microsomes was markedly inhibited by ketoconazole (a CYP3A4 inhibitor) but not by quinidine (a CYP2D6 inhibitor). These results indicate that the metabolism of tandospirone by human liver microsomes primarily involves CYP3A4, and to a lesser extent CYP2D6.