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It is important to predict drug-drug interactions via inhibition of intestinal cytochrome P450 3A (CYP3A) which is a determinant of bioavailability of orally administered CYP3A substrates. However, inhibitory effects of macrolide antibiotics on CYP3A-mediated metabolism are not entirely identical between humans and rodents. We investigated the effects of macrolide antibiotics, clarithromycin and erythromycin, on in vitro and in vivo metabolism of triazolam, a CYP3A substrate, in CYP3A-humanised mice generated by using a mouse artificial chromosome vector carrying a human CYP3A gene. Metabolic activities of triazolam were inhibited by macrolide antibiotics in liver and intestine microsomes of CYP3A-humanised mice. The area under the plasma concentration-time curve ratios of 4-hydroxytriazolam to triazolam after oral dosing of triazolam were significantly decreased by multiple administration of macrolide antibiotics. The plasma concentrations ratios of α-hydroxytriazolam and 4-hydroxytriazolam to triazolam in portal blood were significantly decreased by multiple administration of clarithromycin in CYP3A-humanised mice. These results suggest that intestinal CYP3A activity was inhibited by macrolide antibiotics in CYP3A-humanised mice in vitro and in vivo. The plasma concentrations of triazolam and its metabolites in the portal blood of CYP3A-humanised mice would be useful for direct evaluation of intestinal CYP3A-mediated drug-drug interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. To investigate cytochrome P450 3A (CYP3A)-mediated metabolism in vivo, plasma concentrations of triazolam (TRZ) are often monitored as a CYP3A marker in CYP3A-humanised mice. However, it has not been determined whether plasma concentrations of TRZ after intravenous administration can reflect hepatic CYP3A activity in CYP3A-humanised mice. 2. Firstly, we investigated the pharmacokinetics of TRZ in wild-type and Cyp3a-knockout (Cyp3a-KO) mice. Plasma concentration profiles of TRZ and α-hydroxy (OH) TRZ were very similar in wild-type and Cyp3a-KO mice. On the other hand, AUC of 4-OH TRZ in Cyp3a-KO mice was significantly lower than that in wild-type mice. Pregnenolone 16α-carbonitrile (PCN) decreased the areas under the plasma concentration-time curves (AUCs) of TRZ and α-OH TRZ in both groups. There was no significant effect of PCN on AUC of 4-OH TRZ in Cyp3a-KO mice. 3. Next, we verified that AUC of 4-OH TRZ in CYP3A-humanised mice was higher than that in Cyp3a-KO mice, although the difference was not significant. 4. In conclusion, plasma concentrations of 4-OH TRZ, but not those of TRZ and α-OH TRZ, might reflect hepatic CYP3A activity in mice in vivo. These results provide important insights for in vivo studies using a CYP3A-humanised model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1-Aminobenzotriazole (ABT) is a mechanism-based inactivator of major cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, which is used in multiple mechanistic studies. The purpose was to evaluate the effect of 2 and 16-h pretreatment regimens of ABT on the exposures of triazolam in rat. Another objective was to evaluate the effect of ABT on gastric emptying of acetaminophen. Plasma area under the curve (AUC) of triazolam was increased by 101-fold and 81-fold for the rats pretreated with ABT at 2 and 16 h, respectively, compared to control rats. Time to reach maximum concentration was 0.3, 4.8 and 3.7 h in control, 2 and 16-h pretreatment animals, respectively. In the case of acetaminophen, where Tmax was not delayed, the mean absorption time (MAT) in control, 2 and 16 h ABT pretreatment groups were 0.3, 4.6 and 2.9 h, respectively, suggesting delayed absorption. This hypothesis was further supported by GastroPlusTM simulation. In summary, extent of triazolam absorption was increased to a similar extent with both 2 and 16 h ABT pretreatment regimens, suggesting that either of the regimen can be used to increase parent exposures in rat. With ABT pretreatment, delayed absorption of triazolam and acetaminophen was observed, as suggested by delay in Tmax and MAT, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Buffer conditions inin vitrometabolism studies using human liver microsomes (HLM) have been reported to affect the metabolic activities of several cytochrome P450 (CYP) isozymes in different ways, although there are no reports about the dependence of CYP2C8 activity on buffer conditions. 2. The present study investigated the effect of buffer components (phosphate or Tris-HCl) and their concentration (10–200 mM) on the CYP2C8 and CYP3A4 activities of HLM, using paclitaxel and triazolam, respectively, as marker substrates. 3. TheKm(or S50) andVmaxvalues for both paclitaxel 6α-hydroxylation and triazolam α- and 4-hydroxylation, estimated by fitting analyses based on the Michaelis–Menten or Hill equation, greatly depended on the buffer components and their concentration. 4. The CLintvalues in phosphate buffer were 1.2–3.0-fold (paclitaxel) or 3.1–6.4-fold (triazolam) higher than in Tris-HCl buffer at 50–100 mM. These values also depended on the buffer concentration, with a maximum 2.3-fold difference observed between 50 and 100 mM which are both commonly used in drug metabolism studies. 5. These findings suggest the necessity for optimization of the buffer conditions in the quantitative evaluation of metabolic clearances, such asin vitro–in vivoextrapolation and also estimating the contribution of a particular enzyme in drug metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. To search an appropriate evaluation methodology for the intestinal first-pass metabolism of new drug candidates, grapefruit juice (GFJ)- and vehicle (tap water)-pretreated mice or rats were orally administered midazolam (MDZ) or triazolam (TRZ), and blood levels of the parent compounds and their metabolites were measured by liquid chromatography/MS/MS. A significant effect of GFJ to elevate the blood levels was observed only for TRZ in mice. 2. In vitro experiments using mouse, rat and human intestinal and hepatic microsomal fractions demonstrated that GFJ suppressed the intestinal microsomal oxidation of MDZ and especially TRZ. Substrate inhibition by MDZ caused reduction in 1′-hydroxylation but not 4-hydroxylation in both intestinal and hepatic microsomal fractions. The kinetic profiles of MDZ oxidation and the substrate inhibition in mouse intestinal and hepatic microsomal fractions were very similar to those in human microsomes but were different from those in rat microsomes. Furthermore, MDZ caused mechanism-based inactivation of cytochrome P450 3A-dependent TRZ 1′-hydroxylation in mouse, rat and human intestinal microsomes with similar potencies. 3. These results are useful information in the analysis of data obtained in mouse and rat for the evaluation of first-pass effects of drug candidates to be metabolized by CYP3A enzymes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prediction of metabolic clearance in extreme individuals rather than the 'average human' is becoming an attractive tool within the pharmaceutical industry. The current study involved prediction of variability in metabolic clearance for alprazolam, triazolam and midazolam with emphasis on the following factors: first, evaluation of clearance prediction accuracy using intrinsic clearance (CLint) data from in vitro metabolic data and back-calculation from in vivo clearance data. Second, the sensitivity of predicted in vivo variability to changes in variability for physiological parameters (e.g. liver weight, haematocrit, CYP3A abundance). Finally, reported estimates of variability in hepatic CYP3A4 abundance (coefficient of variation (CV) 95%) were refined by separating experimental from interindividual variability using a repeat measurement protocol in 52 human liver samples. Using in vitro metabolic data, predicted clearances were within 2-fold of observed for triazolam and midazolam. Clearance of alprazolam was overpredicted by 2.0- to 3.7-fold. Use of in vivo CLint values improved prediction of intravenous clearance to within 2-fold of observed for all drugs. Initially, the variability in clearance was overestimated for all drugs (by 1.8- to 3.6-fold). Use of a reduced hepatic CYP3A4 CV of 41%, representative of interindividual variability alone improved predictions of variability in clearance for all drugs to within 2-fold of observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The pharmacokinetics of drugs can change in diabetes mellitus and even among diabetics. They may differ between type I diabetes (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). 2. As triazolam was administered orally to Tsumura, Suzuki, obese, diabetes (TSOD) mice and streptozotocin (STZ) mice, clearance per body (CL/F) in TSOD mice did not differ compared with Tsumura, Suzuki, nonobesity (TSNO) mice. In STZ mice, CL/F was greater than in control mice. Small intestinal cytochrome P450 (Cyp) 3a expression in TSOD mice was significantly lower than in TSNO mice. No significant difference existed in small intestinal Cyp3a expression between STZ mice and control mice. In insulin-treated mice, small intestinal Cyp3a expression was significantly lower than in control mice. 3. These results suggested that the differences in changes in small intestinal Cyp3a expression between T1DM and T2DM may be due to differences in plasma insulin concentrations. This may be a factor in the difference in the drug pharmacokinetics between T2DM and T1DM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Pharmacokinetic analyses of three kinds of benzodiazepines—midazolam (MDZ), triazolam (TRZ) and alprezolam (APZ) —were performed in rats with cannulated portal and jugular veins. Each drug was administered to the double-cannulated rats, and pharmacokinetic data for the parent drugs and their 1?- and 4-hydroxylated metabolites were compared with those obtained in non-cannulated mice. 2. In bioavailability, the drugs ranked APZ >> TRZ = MDZ in rats, and APZ > TRZ >> MDZ in mice, with the values for MDZ remarkably different between rats and mice (19% in rats versus 2.3% in mice). In contrast, hepatic availability (Fh) was similar (APZ > TRZ > MDZ) in both species. Highly significant relationships were found between the ratio of the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) for the parent drugs in portal blood (AUCpor) to that in systemic blood (AUCsys) and Fh in rats and mice. 3. The double-cannulated rat is useful for estimating the hepatic availability of drug candidates by determining the AUC values for the parent drugs in portal and systemic blood samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the current study was to investigate the metabolism of cytochrome P450 (CYP) probe substrates in male Sprague Dawley rat liver microsomes and to determine their substrate specificities. Time and microsomal protein concentrations were varied to determine the linear conditions for each reaction. Appropriate substrate concentrations were chosen to determine the apparent Km and Vmax for 17 different reactions under initial rate conditions of protein and reaction time. All reactions appeared to follow Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Subsequently, each substrate was incubated at one to two times Km with each of 14 baculovirus cDNA-expressed rat CYP enzymes to determine the specificity of the reaction monitored. Of the 14 enzymes tested, seven were seen as the major rat CYP enzymes responsible for the majority of the substrate metabolism tested. Testosterone 2α- and 16α-hydroxylation reactions were conducted primarily by CYP2C11, and midazolam 4-hydroxylation and triazolam 1'-hydroxylation were preferentially catalyzed by CYP3A1/2, but specificity was otherwise generally poor. The results presented herein clearly indicate that care must be taken in interpretation of metabolism results obtained in rats using standard probe substrates, especially in extrapolation of those results to humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Triazolam (TRZ) has been used extensively in rat to evaluate its benzodiazepine agonist central nervous system effects. However, the pharmacokinetics of TRZ in the male rat are not well understood. 2. To characterize further TRZ biotransformation across species, the NADPH-dependent biotransformation of TRZ was examined in rat and human liver microsomes. The role of specific cytochrome P450s (CYPs) in the biotransformation of TRZ in the rat were also determined using both rat cDNA-expressed CYPs and chemical and antibody inhibition techniques. 3. The formation of TRZ's primary hydroxylated products, α-OH- and 4-OH-TRZ, was consistent with a single-enzyme Michaelis-Menten model in humans. 4. Although 4-OH-TRZ formation in the male rat liver was also approximated by a single-enzyme model, a second low-affinity component was identified as contributing to α-OH-TRZ formation in the rat. 5. The K m values for the primary metabolic pathway differed between the two species. However, the net intrinsic clearances were similar for the rat and human. 6. As observed previously for humans, chemical and antibody inhibition studies suggested that CYP3A enzymes contribute significantly to TRZ hydroxylation in the rat. This finding was further supported by the use of rat cDNA-expressed CYPs. 7. The male rat might serve as a useful model for evaluating mechanisms regulating TRZ metabolism in vivo . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]