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In vitro metabolic stability assays are used to screen compounds for stability in the presence of various drug metabolizing enzymes, usually cytochrome P450 in liver preparations (e.g., liver microsomes). High-throughput metabolic stability assays using pooling methods have been developed to keep pace with screening requirements at the lead ADME optimization stage. In our laboratory, we have improved the metabolic stability assay using the cassette analysis method, column switching, and incorporated time saving techniques in method development to yield a robust method which reduces data turnaround time, increases compound throughput, and maximizes mass spectrometer usage. This method can determine metabolic stability using microsomes or hepatocytes from any species. We describe our findings following incubation of 40 different compounds with human liver microsomes and analysis by the cassette and discrete analysis methods. Similar metabolic stability results were obtained using the cassette analysis and discrete analysis method. An overall 70% time savings was achieved by pooling four new compounds into one sample for method development/MS optimization, cassetting four samples into one sample to minimize the number of injections on LC/MS/MS analysis, and using a column switching system to analyze the samples, which results in a two-fold decrease in the LC/MS/MS analysis time.

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In the early stages of drug discovery, the formation of reactive metabolites is often assessed by co-incubating the drug in liver microsomes with a trapping agent in the presence of NADPH. Our group assessed the capability of commonly used trapping agents to reversibly inhibit major cytochrome P450 (CYP) isoforms. Glutathione and cyanide did not inhibit the enzymes at concentrations up to 10 mM; however methoxylamine did show inhibition, with IC(50) values of 0.53 mM for CYP1A2, 4.12 mM for CYP2C9, 2.04 mM for CYP2C19, 9.72 mM for CYP2D6, and 1.26 and >10 mM for CYP3A4/5 (for testosterone and midazolam, respectively, as substrates).

ABSTRACT:CP-424391, 2-amino-N-[3aR-benzyl-2-methyl-3-oxo-2,3,3a,4,6,7-hexahydro-pyrazolo[4,3-c]pyridin-5-yl)-1R-benzyloxymethyl-2-oxoethyl]-isobutyramide, is an orally active growth hormone secretagogue currently being developed. In this study, we investigated the metabolic fate and disposition of radiolabeled CP-424391 in rats. Following 15 mg/kg single oral administration to Sprague-Dawley rats, 91% of the radiolabeled dose was recovered. Feces was the major route of excretion: 77% of the dose recovered in feces of the female rat and 84% in the male. Excretion in the urine was 15% in the female rat compared with 7% in the male. Both fecal and urinary metabolic profiles were consistent in both genders. The metabolic pathways of CP-424391 were oxidation at the benzyl group of the O-benzylserine moiety, N-demethylation of pyrazolidine, and/or Odebenzylation. In circulation, CP-424391 was absorbed within the first hour to an average apparent C max of 1.44 g/ml. CP-424391 accounts for about 40% of radioactivity area under the plasma concentrationtime curve and C max in circulation. The plasma terminal elimination half-life of CP-424391 was 2.4 h and for total radioactivity was 2.8 h. The radioactivity was widely distributed in all tissues except for the central nervous system. [ The growth hormone (GH) is a pulsatile hormone controlled in part by hypothalamus (Rizvi and Arslan, 1998). It exerts direct effect on protein and on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, and controls the rate of skeletal and visceral growth (Salomon et al., 1996;Tsoshima T, 1998; Russell-Jones and Umpleby 1999). For reasons not yet fully understood, GH secretion gradually declines during normal aging (Corpas et al., 1993;Veldhuis et al., 1997). This decline with age reflects changes in both frequency and magnitude of secretory pulses. A spectrum of physiologic changes occur that are reminiscent of the adult GH deficiency syndrome (Jorgensen et al., 1994). The deleterious consequences of this deficiency include increased visceral adiposity, reduced lean body mass and muscle-to-fat ratio, osteopenia, fatigue and muscle weakness, reduced extracellular fluid volume, and decreased cardiac function. Although recombinant GH therapy represents the current standard of care for GH-deficient patients, it is not ideal due to adverse effects associated with long-term therapies (Gibney et al., 1999). On the other hand, GH secretagogue has shown marked improvements over the traditional remedies by enhancing pulse amplitudes and integrated hormone production in elderly subjects (Huhn et al., 1993;Aloi et al., 1994;Chapman et al., 1997).CP-424391 belongs to the pyrazolidine-piperidine class of compounds currently being developed as an orally active GH secretagogue for the treatment of growth hormone-compromised states. Its pharmacological mechanism of action is the elevation of circulating GH levels by stimulation of GH release from the pituitary gland (Pan, 2000). The objective of the present study was to investigate the metabolic fate and disposition of CP-...

Here, we report on the mechanism by which flavin-containing monooxygenase 1 (FMO1) mediates the formation of a reactive intermediate of 4-fluoro-N-methylaniline. FMO1 catalyzed a carbon oxidation reaction coupled with defluorination that led to the formation of 4-N-methylaminophenol, which was a reaction first reported by Boersma et al. (Boersma et al. (1993) Drug Metab. Dispos. 21 , 218 - 230). We propose that a labile 1-fluoro-4-(methylimino)cyclohexa-2,5-dienol intermediate was formed leading to an electrophilic quinoneimine intermediate. The identification of N-acetylcysteine adducts by LC-MS/MS and NMR further supports the formation of a quinoneimine intermediate. Incubations containing stable labeled oxygen (H(2)(18)O or (18)O(2)) and ab initio calculations were performed to support the proposed reaction mechanism.

1. The major human cytochrome P450 (CYP) form(s) responsible for the metabolism of CP-195,543, a potent leukotriene B4 antagonist, were investigated. 2. Incubation of CP-195,543 with human liver microsomes resulted in the formation of three major metabolites, M1-3. M1 and M2 were diastereoisomers and formed by oxidation on the benzylic position. M3 was formed by aromatic oxidation of the benzyl group attached to the 3-position of the benzopyran ring. 3. The results from experiments with recombinant CYPs, correlation studies and inhibition studies with form-selective inhibitors and a CYP3A antibody strongly suggest that the CYP3A4 plays a major role in the metabolism of CP-195,543. Recombinant CYP3A5 did not metabolize CP-195,543. 4. The apparent K(m) and V(max) for the formation of M1-3 in human liver microsomes were determined as 36 microM and 4.1 pmol min(-1) pmol(-1) P450, 44 microM and 10 pmol min(-1) pmol(-1) P450, and 34 microM and 2.0 pmol min(-1) pmol(-1) P450, respectively. The average in vitro intrinsic clearance for M2 was the highest both in human liver microsomes and recombinant CYP3A4 compared with M1 and M3. Intrinsic clearance for M2 in human liver microsomes and recombinant CYP3A4 was 0.231 and 0.736 ml min(-1) pmol(-1) P450, respectively. The intrinsic clearances for M1 and M3 in human liver microsomes and CYP3A4 were 0.114 and 0.060 and 0.197 and 0.088 ml min(-1) pmol(-1) P450, respectively. This suggests that benzylic oxidation is the predominant phase I metabolic pathway of CP-195,543 in man.

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