The purpose of the study was to elucidate human intestinal cytochrome P450 isoform(s) involved in the metabolism of an antihistamine, ebastine, having two major pathways of hydroxylation and N-dealkylation. The ebastine dealkylase in human intestinal microsomes was CYP3A4, based on the inhibition studies with antibodies against CYP1A, CYP2A, CYP2C, CYP2D, CYP2E, and CYP3A isoforms and their selective inhibitors. However, ebastine hydroxylase could not be identified. We then examined the inhibitory effects of anti-CYP4F antibody and 17-octadecynoic acid, an inhibitor of the CYP4 family, on ebastine hydroxylation in intestinal microsomes, since CYP4F was recently found to be the predominant ebastine hydroxylase in monkey intestine; and a novel CYP4F isoform (CYP4F12), also capable of hydroxylating ebastine, was found to exist in human intestine. However, the inhibitory effects were only partial (about 20%) and thus it was thought that, although human CYP4F was involved in ebastine hydroxylation, another predominant enzyme exists. Further screening showed that the hydroxylation was inhibited by arachidonic acid. CYP2J2 was selected as a candidate expressed in the intestine and closely related to arachidonic acid metabolism. The catalytic activity of recombinant CYP2J2 was much higher than that of CYP4F12. Anti-CYP2J antibody inhibited the hydroxylation to about 70% in human intestinal microsomes. These results demonstrate that CYP2J2 is the predominant ebastine hydroxylase in human intestinal microsomes. Thus, the present paper for the first time indicates that, in human intestinal microsomes, both CYP2J and CYP4F subfamilies not only metabolize endogenous substrates but also are involved in the drug metabolism. Ebastine is a potent nonsedative H 1 -receptor antagonist (Fig. 1), and after oral administration to experimental animals and humans, the agent is almost completely metabolized to the pharmacologically active principle, the carboxylated metabolite (carebastine), and other inactive metabolites Matsuda et al., 1994;Yamaguchi et al., 1994). Carebastine alone was the major metabolite detectable in the blood. Our previous in situ studies using rats indicated that the small intestine extensively converted the orally given ebastine to carebastine via hydroxylated ebastine and the dealkylated metabolite (Fujii et al., 1997). Therefore, it seemed that small intestine plays an important role in the first-pass metabolism of this drug, and the enzymes responsible for its metabolism exist there.We reported that ebastine was primarily metabolized by human liver microsomes to two metabolites, hydroxy-and desalkyl-ebastine (Hashizume et al., 1998). N-Dealkylation to desalkyl-ebastine was mediated by CYP3A4, whereas hydroxylation to hydroxy-ebastine, the most important intermediate metabolite yielding carebastine, was mediated by unidentified P450(s) other than CYP3A4. Our recent studies revealed that two novel CYP4F isoforms (P450 MI-2 and CYP4F12) obtained from monkey and human small intestine, respectively, were ...

ABSTRACT: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.

Our results indicate that more than 10% of the dogs studied were CYP1A2-null. Because CYP1A2-null phenotype in dogs affects the results of pharmacokinetic, toxicological and pharmacological studies of drug candidates, these findings are important in the pharmaceutical and the veterinary fields.

This article is available online at http://dmd.aspetjournals.org In the pharmaceutical industry, dogs are commonly used as a nonrodent species for toxicological and pharmacological studies of drug candidates. In addition, dog pharmacokinetic data along with in vitro metabolic data can be very useful for the prediction of human in vivo pharmacokinetics and interpretation of toxicity and efficacy results in both species. However, remarkable interindividual difference of drug concentration in plasma is frequently observed in dogs after drug administration (Paulson et al., 1999;Azuma et al., 2002). This variability of pharmacokinetics often affects the results of toxicological and pharmacological studies. Therefore, it is important for efficient and reliable preclinical studies to clarify the mechanism of pharmacokinetic variability and to remove the factors affecting it.Cytochrome P450 (P450 1 ) plays a decisive role in the oxidative metabolism of xenobiotics and endogenous substances (Rendic and Di Carlo, 1997). In humans, many genetic polymorphisms of P450 have been reported, and some of them are considered important factors for interindividual variability of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (http://www.imm.ki.se/CYPalleles/). On the other hand, in dogs several P450s have been cloned and sequenced, including CYP1A1/2 (Uchida et al., 1990), CYP2B11 (Graves et al., 1990), CYP2C21/41 (Uchida et al., 1990;Blaisdell et al., 1998), CYP2D15 (Sakamoto et al., 1995, CYP2E1 (Lankford et al., 2000), and CYP3A12/26 (Ciaccio et al., 1991;Fraser et al., 1997). However, the contribution of these P450s to the interindividual variability of pharmacokinetics in dogs is unknown.5-(3-Methoxyphenyl)-3-(5-methyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl)-2-oxo-1,2-dihydro-1,6-naphthyridine (AC-3933) is a novel cognitive enhancer with central benzodiazepine receptor partial inverse agonistic activity. The mechanism of AC-3933's memory-improving action is based on enhancement of the cholinergic function through the allosteric reduction of ␥-aminobutyric acid activity. In dogs, AC-3933 is metabolized to a major hydroxylated metabolite (SX-5745) and a minor demethylated metabolite (SX-5773), and subsequently, SX-5745 is reductively metabolized to SX-6088 (Fig. 1). This report describes a polymorphism in AC-3933 pharmacokinetics in dogs, and C]-1,6-naphthyridine; SX-5745, 3-(5-hydroxymethyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl)-5-(3-methoxyphenyl)-2-oxo-1,2-dihydro-1,6-naphthyridine; SX-5773, 5-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3-(5-methyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl)-2-oxo-1,2-dihydro-1,6-naphthyridine; SX-6088, 5-(3-methoxyphenyl)-2-oxo-1,2-dihydro-1,6-naphthyridine-3-carboxylic acid; EM, extensive metabolizer; PM, poor metabolizer; C 3h , concentration at 3 h after administration; HPLC, high-performance liquid chromatography; EROD, ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase; POD, phenacetin O-deethylase; ECOD, ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase; APND, aminopyrine N-demethylase; AUC 0-24 , area under concentration-time curve from zero to 24 h.

ABSTRACT:Beagle dogs are commonly used for toxicological and pharmacological studies of drug candidates in the pharmaceutical industry. Recently, we reported a CYP1A2-deficient dog with a nonsense mutation (C1117T). In this study, using CYP1A2-deficient and wildtype dog liver microsomes, substrate specificity of dog CYP1A2 was investigated and compared with human CYP1A2. For this purpose, 11 cytochrome P450 assays were conducted in human or dog liver microsomes, genotyped for the CYP1A2 C1117T mutation. There was no statistical difference between C/C, C/T, and T/T dogs in activities of aminopyrine N-demethylase, aniline hydroxylase, bufuralol 1-hydroxylase, and midazolam 1-hydroxylase. On the other hand, activities of phenacetin O-deethylase, ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase, and tacrine 1-hydroxylase, which were catalyzed by human CYP1A2, were significantly lower in T/T dogs than C/C dogs, indicating that dog and human CYP1A2 was responsible for these activities. However, dog CYP1A2 was not involved in caffeine metabolism, a marker activity for human CYP1A2. As for endogenous substances, our results indicated that human CYP1A2, but not dog CYP1A2, is responsible for melatonin 6-hydroxylase, 9-cis-retinal oxidase, and estradiol 2-hydroxylase activity. In conclusion, tacrine, ethoxyresorufin, and phenacetin are probe substrates for CYP1A2 not only in humans but also in dogs. However, caffeine, melatonin, 9-cis-retinal, and estradiol, which are substrate for human CYP1A2, are not good substrates for dog CYP1A2. The finding that there are species differences in substrate specificity of CYP1A2 between humans and beagle dogs is an important issue and must be considered for preclinical studies using beagle dogs.