Background and ObjectiveActivity of human cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) shows high inter-and intra-individual variability, which is determined by genetic and non-genetic factors. Using a combination of CYP-specific probe drugs, phenotyping cocktails allow simultaneous assessment of the activity of different CYP isoforms. The objective of this study was to characterize the phenotyping metrics of the Basel cocktail in healthy male subjects with induced and inhibited CYP activity.MethodsIn a randomized crossover study, the probe drugs for simultaneous phenotyping of CYP1A2 (caffeine), CYP2B6 (efavirenz), CYP2C9 (losartan), 2C19 (omeprazole), CYP2D6 (metoprolol), and CYP3A4 (midazolam) were administered to 16 subjects without pretreatment (baseline), after pretreatment with a combination of CYP inhibitors (ciprofloxacin, ketoconazole, and paroxetine), and after CYP induction with rifampicin. All subjects were genotyped. Pharmacokinetic profiles of the probe drugs and their main metabolites and metabolic ratios 2, 4, 6, and 8 h after probe drug application were determined in plasma and compared with the corresponding area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) ratios.ResultsThe Basel phenotyping cocktail was well tolerated by all subjects independent of pretreatment. Good correlations of metabolic ratios with AUC ratios of the corresponding probe drugs and their metabolites for all three conditions (baseline, CYP inhibition, and CYP induction) were found at 2 h after probe drug administration for CYP3A4, at 4 h for CYP1A2 and CYP2C19, and at 6 h for CYP2B6 and CYP2D6. While CYP inhibition significantly changed AUC ratios and metabolic ratios at these time points for all six CYP isoforms, CYP induction did not significantly change AUC ratios for CYP2C9. For CYP3A4, total 1′-hydroxymidazolam concentrations after pretreatment of samples with β-glucuronidase were needed to obtain adequate reflection of CYP induction by the metabolic ratio.ConclusionsInhibition of CYP activity can be detected with the Basel phenotyping cocktail for all six tested CYP isoforms at the proposed time points. The AUC ratio of losartan:losartan carboxylic acid in plasma does not seem suitable to detect induction of CYP2C9. The observed metabolic ratios for inhibited and induced CYP activity need to be confirmed for extensive metabolizers, and typical ratios for subjects with genetically altered CYP activity will need to be established in subsequent studies.ClinicalTrials.gov-ID: NCT01386593.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s40262-015-0294-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Currently used hepatocyte cell systems for in vitro assessment of drug metabolism include hepatoma cell lines and primary human hepatocyte (PHH) cultures. We investigated the suitability of the validated in vivo Basel phenotyping cocktail (caffeine [CYP1A2], efavirenz [CYP2B6], losartan [CYP2C9], omeprazole [CYP2C19], metoprolol [CYP2D6], midazolam [CYP3A4]) in vitro and characterized four hepatocyte cell systems (HepG2 cells, HepaRG cells, and primary cryopreserved human hepatocytes in 2-dimensional [2D] culture or in 3D-spheroid co-culture) regarding basal metabolism and CYP inducibility. Under non-induced conditions, all CYP activities could be determined in 3D-PHH, CYP2B6, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, and CYP3A4 in 2D-PHH and HepaRG, and CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 in HepG2 cells. The highest non-induced CYP activities were observed in 3D-PHH and HepaRG cells. mRNA expression was at least four-fold higher for all CYPs in 3D-PHH compared to the other cell systems. After treatment with 20 μM rifampicin, mRNA increased 3- to 50-fold for all CYPs except CYP1A2 and 2D6 for HepaRG and 3D-PHH, 4-fold (CYP2B6) and 17-fold (CYP3A4) for 2D-PHH and four-fold (CYP3A4) for HepG2. In 3D-PHH at least a two-fold increase in CYP activity was observed for all inducible CYP isoforms while CYP1A2 and CYP2C9 activity did not increase in 2D-PHH and HepaRG. CYP inducibility assessed in vivo using the same phenotyping probes was also best reflected by the 3D-PHH model. Our studies show that 3D-PHH and (with some limitations) HepaRG are suitable cell systems for assessing drug metabolism and CYP induction in vitro. HepG2 cells are less suited to assess CYP induction of the 2C and 3A family. The Basel phenotyping cocktail is suitable for the assessment of CYP activity and induction also in vitro.

Metoprolol is used for phenotyping of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2D6, a CYP isoform considered not to be inducible by inducers of the CYP2C, CYP2B, and CYP3A families such as rifampicin. While assessing CYP2D6 activity under basal conditions and after pre-treatment with rifampicin in vivo, we surprisingly observed a drop in the metoprolol/α-OH-metoprolol clearance ratio, suggesting CYP2D6 induction. To study this problem, we performed in vitro investigations using HepaRG cells and primary human hepatocytes (before and after treatment with 20 μM rifampicin), human liver microsomes, and CYP3A4-overexpressing supersomes. While mRNA expression levels of CYP3A4 showed a 15- to 30-fold increase in both cell models, mRNA of CYP2D6 was not affected by rifampicin. 1′-OH-midazolam formation (reflecting CYP3A4 activity) increased by a factor of 5–8 in both cell models, while the formation of α-OH-metoprolol increased by a factor of 6 in HepaRG cells and of 1.4 in primary human hepatocytes. Inhibition studies using human liver microsomes showed that CYP3A4, 2B6, and 2C9 together contributed 19.0 ± 2.6% (mean ± 95%CI) to O-demethylation, 4.0 ± 0.7% to α-hydroxylation, and 7.6 ± 1.7% to N-dealkylation of metoprolol. In supersomes overexpressing CYP3A4, metoprolol was α-hydroxylated in a reaction inhibited by the CYP3A4-specific inhibitor ketoconazole, but not by the CYP2D6-specific inhibitor quinidine. We conclude that metoprolol is not exclusively metabolized by CYP2D6. CYP3A4, 2B6, and 2C9, which are inducible by rifampicin, contribute to α-hydroxylation, O-demethylation, and N-dealkylation of metoprolol. This contribution is larger after CYP induction by rifampicin but is too small to compromise the usability of metoprolol α-hydroxylation for CYP2D6 phenotyping.