ABSTRACT:Understanding the potential for cytochrome P450-mediated drugdrug interactions (DDIs) is a critical step in the drug discovery process. DDIs of CYP3A4 are of particular importance because of the number of marketed drugs that are cleared by this enzyme. In response to studies that suggested the presence of several binding regions within the CYP3A4 active site, multiple probe substrates are often used for in vitro CYP3A4 DDI studies, including midazolam (the clinical standard), felodipine/nifedipine, and testosterone. However, the design of clinical CYP3A4 DDI studies may be confounded for cases such as 1-(2-hydroxy-2-methylpropyl)-N-[5-(7-methoxyquinolin-4-yloxy)pyridin-2-yl]-5-methyl-3-oxo-2-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrazole-4-carboxamide (AMG 458), with which testosterone is predicted to exhibit a clinically relevant DDI whereas midazolam and felodipine/nifedipine are not. To develop an appropriate path forward for such clinical DDI studies, the inhibition potency of 20 known inhibitors of CYP3A4 were measured in vitro using 8 clinically relevant CYP3A4 probe substrates and testosterone. Hierarchical clustering suggested four probe substrate clusters: testosterone; felodipine; midazolam, buspirone, quinidine, and sildenafil; and simvastatin, budesonide, and fluticasone. The in vivo sensitivities of six clinically relevant CYP3A4 probe substrates (buspirone, cyclosporine, nifedipine, quinidine, sildenafil, and simvastatin) were determined in relation to midazolam from literature DDI data. Buspirone, sildenafil, and simvastatin exhibited similar or greater sensitivity than midazolam to CYP3A4 inhibition in vivo. Finally, Simcyp was used to predict the in vivo magnitude of CYP3A4 DDIs caused by AMG 458 using midazolam, sildenafil, simvastatin, and testosterone as probe substrates.The cytochrome P450 (P450) superfamily of drug-metabolizing enzymes is involved in the metabolism of the majority of currently prescribed drugs and new chemical entities. Within the P450 superfamily, CYP3A4 is responsible for the metabolism of approximately 55% of marketed drugs (Wienkers and Heath, 2005). Because of its general importance in drug clearance, assessment and modeling of CYP3A4 inhibition are a critical part of the drug discovery and development process. Probe substrate-dependent inhibition profiles have been observed in vitro with CYP3A4, possibly owing to the presence of multiple probe substrate binding regions within the CYP3A4 active site (Kenworthy et al., 1999). In response, a standard approach when testing for CYP3A4 inhibition has been to use multiple probe substrates such as midazolam (the clinical standard), felodipine/nifedipine, or testosterone for in vitro experiments (Wienkers and Heath, 2005). Extrapolation of the in vitro data to the in vivo situation may be confounded in the multiple probe substrate scenario if a probe substrate that is not clinically relevant, such as testosterone, is markedly more susceptible to inhibition than midazolam (the clinical standard) and felodipine/nifedipine . Our first a...