Drug biotransformation: mechanistic studies with stable isotopes

The metabolism of CGS—15873 in man using stable isotope pattern recognition techniques

CGS 15873 is a relatively specific dopamine agonist with preferential activity at the presynaptic autoreceptor and therefore may represent a novel agent for the treatment of schizophrenia and/or Parkinson's disease. Several metabolites have been identified in the rat and monkey using an isotopically enriched dosing solution and pattern recognition techniques coupled with GC/MS and LC/MS. In this study, the metabolism of CGS 15873 was investigated in man using these same techniques. In urine, specific isotope clusters were found that matched the dosing solution pattern. Three metabolites were identified: an O-glucuronide conjugate of the parent drug, N-despropyl CGS 15873, and a keto metabolite of CGS 15873. Thermospray LC/MS allowed for the direct confirmation of the conjugated metabolite. GC/MS required derivatization but afforded greater sensitivity compared to LC/MS.

Stable isotopes in pharmacology studies: present and future

Stable-isotope techniques offer advantages over older methods in safety, sensitivity, specificity, and reduction in numbers of subjects required and analytic determinations for some types of pharmacology studies. In addition to their use as internal standards in gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analytic methods, stable isotopes have been successfully employed in studies of absorption, bioavailability, distribution, biotransformation, excretion, metabolite identification, time-dependent and dose-dependent pharmacokinetic changes, drug interactions, pharmacologic changes during pregnancy, mutagenicity, and teratogenicity.