The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), a small New World monkey, has the potential for use in human drug development due to its evolutionary closeness to humans. Four novel cDNAs, encoding cytochrome P450 (P450) 2C18, 2C19, 2C58, and 2C76, were cloned from marmoset livers to characterize P450 2C molecular properties, including previously reported P450 2C8. The deduced amino acid sequence showed high sequence identities (>86%) with those of human P450 2Cs, except for marmoset P450 2C76, which has a low sequence identity (∼70%) with any human P450 2Cs. Phylogenetic analysis showed that marmoset P450 2Cs were more closely clustered with those of humans and macaques than other species investigated. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that all of the marmoset P450 2C mRNAs were predominantly expressed in liver as opposed to the other tissues tested. Marmoset P450 2C proteins were detected in liver by immunoblotting using antibodies against human P450 2Cs. Among marmoset P450 2Cs heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli, marmoset P450 2C19 efficiently catalyzed human P450 2C substrates, S-warfarin, diclofenac, tolbutamide, flurbiprofen, and omeprazole. Marmoset P450 2C19 had high V max and low K m values for S-warfarin 7-hydroxylation that were comparable to those in human liver microsomes, indicating warfarin stereoselectivity similar to findings in humans. Faster in vivo S-warfarin clearance than R-warfarin after intravenous administration of racemic warfarin (0.2 mg/kg) to marmosets was consistent with the in vitro kinetic parameters. These results indicated that marmoset P450 2C enzymes had functional characteristics similar to those of humans, and that P450 2C-dependent metabolic properties are likewise similar between marmosets and humans.

No abstract

1. The pharmacokinetic data of cytochrome P450 probes in humans can be extrapolated from corresponding data in cynomolgus monkeys, dogs and minipigs using simplified physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling. In this study, the modeling methodology was further adapted to estimate human plasma concentrations of P450 probes based on data from mice transplanted with human hepatocytes or based on data from marmosets. 2. Using known species allometric scaling factors, the observed plasma concentrations of caffeine, warfarin, omeprazole, metoprolol, and midazolam in chimeric TK-NOG mice with humanized liver were scaled to human oral monitoring equivalents. Using the same approach, the previously reported pharmacokinetics of the five P450 probes in marmosets were also scaled to reported equivalents in humans using in vitro metabolic clearance data. 3. Human plasma concentration profiles of the five P450 probes estimated by simplified human PBPK models based on the observed pharmacokinetics in mice with humanized liver and on the reported pharmacokinetics in marmosets were consistent with previously published pharmacokinetic data in Caucasians. 4. These results suggest that mice with humanized liver and/or marmosets could be suitable pharmacokinetic models for humans during research into new drugs, especially when used in combination with simple PBPK models.

Background:Acetaminophen, an analgesic and antipyretic drug, has been used clinically for more than a century. Previous studies showed that acetaminophen undergoes metabolic transformations to form an analgesic compound, N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) arachidonamide (AM404), in the rodent brain. However, these studies were performed with higher concentrations of acetaminophen than are used in humans.Objectives:The aim of the present study was to examine the metabolism of AM404 from acetaminophen in the rat brain at a concentration of 20 mg/kg, which is used in therapeutic practice in humans, and to compare the pharmacokinetics between them.Materials and Methods:We used rat brains to investigate the metabolism of AM404 from acetaminophen at concentrations (20 mg/kg) used in humans. In addition, we determined the mean pharmacokinetic parameters for acetaminophen and its metabolites, including AM404.Results:The maximum plasma concentrations of acetaminophen and AM404 in the rat brain were 15.8 µg/g and 150 pg/g, respectively, with corresponding AUC0-2h values of 8.96 μg hour/g and 117 pg hour/g. The tmax for both acetaminophen and AM404 was 0.25 hour.Conclusions:These data suggest that AM404’s concentration-time profile in the brain is similar to those of acetaminophen and its other metabolites. Measurement of blood acetaminophen concentration seems to reflect the concentration of the prospective bioactive substance, AM404.

1. Pharmacokinetics of human cytochrome P450 probes (caffeine, racemic warfarin, omeprazole, metoprolol and midazolam) composite, after single intravenous and oral administrations at doses of 0.20 and 1.0 mg kg(-1), respectively, to four male common marmosets were investigated. 2. The plasma concentrations of caffeine and warfarin decreased slowly in a monophasic manner but those of omeprazole, metoprolol and midazolam decreased extensively after intravenous and oral administrations, in a manner that approximated those as reported for pharmacokinetics in humans. 3. Bioavailabilities were ∼100% for caffeine and warfarin, but <25% for omeprazole and metoprolol. Bioavailability of midazolam was 4% in marmosets, presumably because of contribution of marmoset P450 3A4 expressed in small intestine and liver, with a high catalytic efficiency for midazolam 1'-hydroxylation as evident in the recombinant system. 4. These results suggest that common marmosets, despite their rapid clearance of some human P450 probe substrates, could be an experimental model for humans and that marmoset P450s have functional characteristics that differ from those of human and/or cynomolgus monkey P450s in some aspects, indicating their importance in modeling in P450-dependent drug metabolism studies in marmosets and of further studies.

1. The pharmacokinetics were investigated for human cytochrome P450 probes after single intravenous and oral administrations of 0.20 and 1.0 mg/kg, respectively, of caffeine, warfarin, omeprazole, metoprolol and midazolam to aged (10-14 years old, n = 4) or rifampicin-treated/young (3 years old, n = 3) male common marmosets all genotyped as heterozygous for a cytochrome P450 2C19 variant. 2. Slopes of the plasma concentration-time curves after intravenous administration of warfarin and midazolam were slightly, but significantly (two-way analysis of variance), decreased in aged marmosets compared with young marmosets. The mean hepatic clearances determined by in silico fitting for individual pharmacokinetic models of warfarin and midazolam in the aged group were, respectively, 23% and 56% smaller than those for the young group. 3. Significantly enhanced plasma clearances of caffeine, warfarin, omeprazole and midazolam were evident in young marmosets pretreated with rifampicin (25 mg/kg daily for 4 days). Two- to three-fold increases in hepatic intrinsic clearance values were observed in the individual pharmacokinetic models. 4. The in vivo dispositions of multiple simultaneously administered drugs in old, young and P450-enzyme-induced marmosets were elucidated. The results suggest that common marmosets could be experimental models for aged, induced or polymorphic P450 enzymes in P450-dependent drug metabolism studies.

Marmoset cytochrome P450 2C19, highly homologous to human P450 2C9 and 2C19, has been identified in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), a nonhuman primate species used in drug metabolism studies. Although genetic variants in human and macaque P450 2C genes account for the interindividual variability in drug metabolism, genetic variants have not been investigated in the marmoset P450 2C19. In this study, sequencing of P450 2C19 in 24 marmosets identified three variants p.[(Phe7Leu; Ser254Leu; Ile469Thr)], which showed substantially reduced metabolic capacity of S-warfarin compared with the wild-type group in vivo and in vitro. Although mean plasma concentrations of R-warfarin in marmosets determined after chiral separation were similar between the homozygous mutant and wild-type groups up to 24 hours after the intravenous and oral administrations of racemic warfarin, S-warfarin depletion from plasma was significantly faster in the three wild-type marmosets compared with the three homozygous mutant marmosets. These variants, cosegregating in the marmosets analyzed, influenced metabolic activities in 18 marmoset liver microsomes because the homozygotes and heterozygotes showed significantly reduced catalytic activities in liver microsomes toward S-warfarin 7-hydroxylation compared with the wild-type group. Kinetic analysis for S-warfarin 7-hydroxylation indicated that the recombinant P450 2C19 Ser254Leu variant would change the metabolic capacity. These results indicated that the interindividual variability of P450 2C-dependent drug metabolism such as S-warfarin clearance is at least partly accounted for by P450 2C19 variants in marmosets, suggesting that polymorphic P450 2C-dependent catalytic functions are relatively similar between marmosets and humans.

The importance of estrogens for glucose homeostasis has been demonstrated by clinical, pharmacological, and experimental studies. Male mice lacking the aromatase gene (ArKO mice), which encodes an enzyme involved in estrogen synthesis, develop glucose- and insulin-intolerance. However, it remains unclear whether insulin signaling is actually impaired in the liver and muscle of ArKO mice. We examined the effects of estrogen-deficiency on insulin signaling by quantifying phosphorylation levels of protein kinase B (Akt) in the liver and muscle and by examining the expression levels of insulin-target genes in the liver. Insulin administration enhanced phosphorylation levels of Akt in the liver and muscle of wild-type (WT) mice, ArKO mice, and ArKO mice supplemented with 17β-estradiol (E2), but insulin was less effective in ArKO mice. Gene expression analysis revealed that alterations induced by insulin in WT liver were also observed in ArKO liver, but the degree of altered expression in a subset of genes was smaller in ArKO mice than in WT mice. E2 supplementation improved the insulin responses of some genes in ArKO mice. Thus, these findings suggest that insulin signaling in the liver and muscle of ArKO mice is less efficient than in WT mice, which contributes to whole-body glucose intolerance in ArKO mice.