Search

(2R,3R,4R)-4-hydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)pyrrolidin-3-yl 4-O-(6-deoxy-β-D-glucopyranosyl)-α-D-glucopyranoside (CS-1036) is a potent inhibitor of pancreatic and salivary α-amylase. After oral administration of [¹⁴C]CS-1036 to rats, the radioactivity was still detectable up to 7-14 days after administration in various tissues, and its terminal phase in plasma could be explained neither by the exposure of CS-1036 nor its major metabolite M1. The slow elimination of radioactivity in various tissues was hypothesized to be caused by covalent binding to macromolecules or use for biogenic components. To assess the use for biogenic components, amino acid analysis of plasma proteins and lipid analysis of adipose tissue were conducted after repeated oral administration of [¹⁴C]CS-1036 by high-performance liquid chromatography and accelerated mass spectrometry and by thin layer chromatography and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, respectively. In amino acid analysis, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, alanine, and proline were identified as major radioactive amino acids, and radioactive nonessential amino acids occupied 76.0% of the radioactivity. In lipid analysis, a part of the radioactive lipids were identified as the fatty acids constituting the neutral lipids by lipase-hydrolysis. The radioactive fatty acids from neutral lipids were identified as palmitic acid, oleic acid, and 8,11,14-eicosatrienoic acid. Intestinal flora were involved in CS-1036 metabolism and are indicated to be involved in the production of small molecule metabolites, which are the sources for amino acids and fatty acids, from [¹⁴C]CS-1036. In conclusion, radioactivity derived from [¹⁴C]CS-1036 was incorporated as the constituents of amino acids of plasma proteins and fatty acids of neutral lipids.

The absorption, metabolism, and excretion of (2R,3R,4R)-4-hydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)pyrrolidin-3-yl 4-O-(6-deoxy-β-d-glucopyranosyl)-α-d-glucopyranoside (CS-1036), a novel and potent pancreatic and salivary α-amylase inhibitor, were evaluated in F344/DuCrlCrlj rats and cynomolgus monkeys. The total body clearance and volume of distribution of CS-1036 were low (2.67-3.44 ml/min/kg and 0.218-0.237 l/kg for rats and 2.25-2.84 ml/min/kg and 0.217-0.271 l/kg for monkeys). After intravenous administration of [(14)C]CS-1036 to rats and monkeys, radioactivity was mainly excreted into urine (77.2% for rats and 81.1% for monkeys). After oral administration, most of the radioactivity was recovered from feces (80.28% for rats and 88.13% for monkeys) with a low oral bioavailability (1.73-2.44% for rats and 0.983-1.20% for monkeys). In rats, intestinal secretion is suggested to be involved in the fecal excretion as a minor component because fecal excretion after intravenous administration was observed (15.66%) and biliary excretion was almost negligible. Although intestinal flora was involved in CS-1036 metabolism, CS-1036 was the main component in feces (70.3% for rats and 48.7% for monkeys) and in the intestinal contents (33-68% for rats up to 2 hours after the dose) after oral administration. In Zucker diabetic fatty rats, CS-1036 showed a suppressive effect on plasma glucose elevation after starch loading with a 50% effective dose at 0.015 mg/kg. In summary, CS-1036 showed optimal pharmacokinetic profiles: low oral absorption and favorable stability in gastrointestinal lumen, resulting in suppression of postprandial hyperglycemia by α-amylase inhibition.

Asthma is one of the most prevalent diseases in the world, for which the mainstay treatment has been inhaled glucocorticoids (GCs). Despite the widespread use of these drugs, approximately 30% of asthma sufferers exhibit some degree of steroid insensitivity or are refractory to inhaled GCs. One hypothesis to explain this phenomenon is interpatient variability in the clearance of these compounds. The objective of this research is to determine how metabolism of GCs by the CYP3A family of enzymes could affect their effectiveness in asthmatic patients. In this work, the metabolism of four frequently prescribed inhaled GCs, triamcinolone acetonide, flunisolide, budesonide, and fluticasone propionate, by the CYP3A family of enzymes was studied to identify differences in their rates of clearance and to identify their metabolites. Both interenzyme and interdrug variability in rates of metabolism and metabolic fate were observed. CYP3A4 was the most efficient metabolic catalyst for all the compounds, and CYP3A7 had the slowest rates. CYP3A5, which is particularly relevant to GC metabolism in the lungs, was also shown to efficiently metabolize triamcinolone acetonide, budesonide, and fluticasone propionate. In contrast, flunisolide was only metabolized via CYP3A4, with no significant turnover by CYP3A5 or CYP3A7. Common metabolites included 6β-hydroxylation and Δ(6)-dehydrogenation for triamcinolone acetonide, budesonide, and flunisolide. The structure of Δ(6)-flunisolide was unambiguously established by NMR analysis. Metabolism also occurred on the D-ring substituents, including the 21-carboxy metabolites for triamcinolone acetonide and flunisolide. The novel metabolite 21-nortriamcinolone acetonide was also identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and NMR analysis.

Acyl glucuronides (AGs) formed from carboxylic acid-containing drugs have been considered to be a cause of idiosyncratic drug toxicity (IDT). Chemical stability of AGs is supposed to relate to their reactivity. In this study, the half-lives of 21 AGs of carboxylic drugs in potassium phosphate buffer (KPB), human serum albumin (HSA) solution, and human fresh plasma were analyzed in relation to the IDT risk derived from these drugs. The carboxylic drugs were classified into three safety categories of "safe," "warning," and "withdrawn" in terms of their IDT risk. As for the results, the half-lives of AGs in KPB correlated with the IDT risk better than those in HSA solution or in human fresh plasma with regard to the separation of the safe drugs from the warning drugs or the withdrawn drugs. In KPB, whereas the half-lives in the safe category were 7.2 h or longer, those in the withdrawn category were 1.7 h or shorter. The classification value of the half-life in KPB, which separated the safe drugs from the withdrawn drugs was calculated to be 3.6 h by regression analysis. In conclusion, this is the first report that clearly shows the relationship between the IDT risk and chemical stability of AGs in several in vitro systems. The KPB system was considered to be the best for evaluating the stability of AGs, and the classification value of the half-life in KPB serves as a useful key predictor for the IDT risk.

Pactimibe sulfate is a novel acyl coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase inhibitor. We conducted metabolic studies of pactimibe and its plasma metabolite, R-125528. Pactimibe had multiple metabolic pathways including indolin oxidation to form R-125528, omega-1 oxidation, N-dealkylation, and glucuronidation. Among them, the indolin oxidation and the omega-1 oxidation were dominant and were mainly catalyzed by CYP3A4 and CYP2D6, respectively. The intrinsic clearance (CL(int)) values for these pathways in human hepatic microsomes were 0.63 and 0.76 microl/min/mg-protein, respectively. On the other hand, the metabolic reaction for R-125528 was restricted. It was demonstrated that omega-1 oxidation was the only pathway that could eliminate R-125528 from the systemic circulation. To our surprise, only CYP2D6-expressing microsomes could catalyze the reaction, and omega-1 oxidation was strongly correlated with the CYP2D6 marker reaction, dextromethorphan O-demethylation (r(2) = 0.90), in human hepatic microsomes. Although R-125528 is an atypical substrate for CYP2D6 because of its acidity, the K(m) value was 1.8 microM for the reaction in human hepatic microsomes and the CL(int) value was as high as 75.0 microl/min/mg-protein. These results suggested that the systemic clearance of R-125528 was highly dependent on CYP2D6 activity and that several studies with CYP2D6 including drug-drug interaction and polymorphism sensitivity should be performed during development from the viewpoint of metabolite safety assessment. The finding that R-125528, an acidic compound devoid of basic nitrogen, was a good substrate for CYP2D6 raised a question about previously reported CYP2D6 models based on a critical electrostatic interaction with Asp(301) and/or Glu(216).

Diglucuronidation is a novel glucuronidation reaction where the second glucuronosyl moiety is attached at the C2' position of the first glucuronosyl moiety. To examine whether diglucuronidation takes place in endogenous substrates in vivo, control urine and bile samples were collected from male Crl:CD(SD) IGS rats, beagle dogs, and cynomolgus monkeys and analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) after solid phase extraction. Several diglucuronides of C(19) steroids, including M1 (C(31)H(46)O(14)) and M2 (C(31)H(44)O(14)), were detected in the urine and bile of the dogs but not in the excreta of the rats and monkeys. A milligram quantity of M1 was successfully isolated from the pooled dog urine and analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. M1 was unambiguously identified as epiandrosterone 3-O-diglucuronide by comparing the LC-MS and two-dimensional NMR data of M1 with those of the biosynthesized epiandrosterone 3-O-diglucuronide. M2 was identified as dehydroepiandrosterone 3-O-diglucuronide. According to these findings, the diglucuronidation reaction was proven to be occurring on steroid hormones in vivo in dogs.

In rats, it has been reported that rofecoxib, a cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor, reacts with the aldehyde group of allysine in elastin to give a condensation covalent adduct, thereby preventing the formation of cross-linkages in the elastin and causing degradation of the elastic fibers in aortas in vivo. Acid, organic solvent, and proteolytic enzyme treatments of human aortic homogenate after incubation with [(14)C]rofecoxib demonstrated that most of the radioactivity is covalently bound to elastin. The in vitro covalent binding was inhibited in the presence of beta-aminopropionitrile, D-penicillamine, and hydralazine, which suggested that the aldehyde group of allysine in human elastin was relevant to the covalent binding. The in vitro covalent binding of [(14)C]rofecoxib was significantly decreased by the addition of only nonradiolabeled rofecoxib but not the other COX-2 inhibitors, celecoxib, valdecoxib, etoricoxib, and CS-706 [2-(4-ethoxyphenyl)-4-methyl 1-(4-sulfamoylphenyl)-1H-pyrrole], a novel selective COX-2 inhibitor. All the above COX-2 inhibitors except for rofecoxib had no reactivity with the aldehyde group of benzaldehyde used as a model compound of allysine aldehyde under a physiological pH condition. On the other hand, no retention of the radioactivity of [(14)C]rofecoxib was observed in human aortic endothelial cells in vitro, suggesting that rofecoxib is not retained in aortic endothelial cells in vivo. These results suggest that rofecoxib, but not other COX-2 inhibitors, is capable of covalently binding to the aldehyde group of allysine in human elastin. This might be one of the main causes of cardiovascular events by rofecoxib in clinical situations.

We identified human UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) isoforms responsible for producing dihydrotestosterone (DHT) diglucuronide, a novel glucuronide in which the second glucuronosyl moiety is attached at the C2' position of the first glucuronosyl moiety, leading to diglucuronosyl conjugation of a single hydroxyl group of DHT at the C17 position. Incubation of the DHT monoglucuronide with 12 cDNA-expressed recombinant human UGT isoforms and uridine 5'-diphosphoglucuronic acid resulted in a low but measurable DHT diglucuronidation activity primarily with UGT1A8, a gastrointestinal UGT, and to a lesser extent with UGT1A1 and UGT1A9. In contrast, the activity of DHT monoglucuronidation was high and was found in UGT2B17, UGT2B15, UGT1A8, and UGT1A4 in descending order. Among the 12 UGT isoforms tested, only UGT1A8 was capable of producing DHT diglucuronide from DHT. The kinetics of DHT diglucuronidation by microsomes from human liver and intestine fitted the Michaelis-Menten model, and the V(max)/K(m) value for the intestinal microsomes was approximately 4 times greater than that for the liver microsomes.