ABSTRACT:Minimizing interindividual variability in drug exposure is an important goal for drug discovery. The reliability of the selective CYP2D6 inhibitor quinidine was evaluated in a retrospective analysis using a standardized approach that avoids laboratory-to-laboratory variation. The goal was to evaluate the reliability of in vitro metabolism studies for predicting extensive metabolizer (EM)/poor metabolizer (PM) exposure differences. Using available literature, 18 CYP2D6 substrates were selected for further analysis. In vitro microsomal studies were conducted at 1 M substrate and 0.5 M P450 to monitor substrate depletion. An estimate of the fraction metabolized by CYP2D6 in microsomes was derived from the rate constant determined with and without 1 M quinidine for 11 substrates. Clearance in EM and PM subjects and fractional recovery of metabolites were taken from the literature. A nonlinear relationship between the contribution of CYP2D6 and decreased oral clearance for PMs relative to EMs was evident. For drugs having <60% CYP2D6 involvement in vivo, a modest difference between EM and PM exposure was observed (<2.5-fold). For major CYP2D6 substrates (>60%), more dramatic exposure differences were observed (3.5-to 53-fold). For compounds primarily eliminated by hepatic P450 and with sufficient turnover to be evaluated in vitro, the fraction metabolized by CYP2D6 in vitro compared favorably with the in vivo data. The in vitro estimation of fraction metabolized using quinidine as a specific inhibitor provided an excellent predictive tool. Results from microsomal substrate depletion experiments can be used with confidence to select compounds in drug discovery using a cutoff of >60% metabolism by CYP2D6.Minimizing interindividual variability in drug exposure is an important goal in drug discovery. One major source of interindividual variability in drug exposure involves clearance. The variable expression of drug-metabolizing enzymes can result in profound differences in drug exposure across a patient population. The genetic basis for interindividual variability has been described for numerous drugmetabolizing enzymes. Some common examples of polymorphic drug-metabolizing enzymes include thiopurine methyltransferase, glutathione S-transferase M1-1, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP3A5, N-acetyltransferase 1, UGT1A1, and flavin monooxygenase 3 (Haining and Yu, 2003).The consequences of polymorphic enzymes on drug metabolism in relation to efficacy and side effects has been the focus of numerous studies (Vandel et al., 1999;Dandara et al., 2001). For instance, individuals lacking the expression of a polymorphic drug-metabolizing enzyme (commonly referred to as "poor metabolizers" or PMs) will have higher drug exposure if those drugs are metabolized by those polymorphic enzymes, which could lead to exaggerated pharmacology or enhanced side effects relative to the intermediate metabolizer and extensive metabolizer (EM) subjects given the same dose (Mahgoub et al., 1977). Alternatively, if a polymorphic enzyme forms a p...