A convenient radiometric assay for flavin-containing monooxygenase activity

In Vitro and In Vivo Correlation of Hepatic Fraction of Metabolism by P450 in Dogs

1-Aminobenzotriazole (ABT) has been widely used as a nonspecific mechanism-based inhibitor of cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes. It is extensively used in preclinical studies to determine the relative contribution of oxidative metabolism mediated by P450 in vitro and in vivo. The aim of present study was to understand the translation of fraction metabolized by P450 in dog hepatocytes to in vivo using ABT, for canagliflozin, known to be cleared by P450-mediated oxidation and UDP-glucuronosyltransferases-mediated glucuronidation, and 3 drug discovery project compounds mainly cleared by hepatic metabolism. In a dog hepatocyte, intrinsic clearance assay with and without preincubation of ABT, 3 Lilly compounds exhibited a wide range of fraction metabolized by P450. Subsequent metabolite profiling in dog hepatocytes demonstrated a combination of metabolism by P450 and UDP-glucuronosyltransferases. In vivo, dogs were pretreated with 50 mg/kg ABT or vehicle at 2 h before intravenous administration of canagliflozin and Lilly compounds. The areas under the concentration-time curve (AUC) were compared for the ABT-pretreated and vehicle-pretreated groups. The measured AUC_ABT/AUC_veh ratios were correlated to fraction of metabolism by P450 in dog hepatocytes, suggesting that in vitro ABT inhibition in hepatocytes is useful to rank order compounds for in vivo fraction of metabolism assessment.

1-Aminobenzotriazole: A Mechanism-Based Cytochrome P450 Inhibitor and Probe of Cytochrome P450 Biology

1-Aminobenzotriazole (1-ABT) is a pan-specific, mechanism-based inactivator of the xenobiotic metabolizing forms of cytochrome P450 in animals, plants, insects, and microorganisms. It has been widely used to investigate the biological roles of cytochrome P450 enzymes, their participation in the metabolism of both endobiotics and xenobiotics, and their contributions to the metabolism-dependent toxicity of drugs and chemicals. This review is a comprehensive evaluation of the chemistry, discovery, and use of 1-aminobenzotriazole in these contexts from its introduction in 1981 to the present.

Studies on the metabolism of the thiofurans furfuryl mercaptan and 2-methyl-3-furanthiol in rat liver

The metabolism of two thiofurans, namely furfuryl mercaptan (FM) and 2-methyl-3-furanthiol (MTF), to their corresponding methyl sulphide and methyl sulphoxide derivatives has been studied in male Sprague-Dawley rat hepatocytes and liver microsomes. Rat hepatocytes converted FM to furfuryl methyl sulphoxide (FMSO) and MTF to 2-methyl-3-(methylthio)furan sulphoxide (MMFSO). Liver microsomes catalysed the NADPH-dependent metabolism of furfuryl methyl sulphide (FMS) to FMSO and 2-methyl-3-(methylthio)furan sulphide (MMFS) to MMFSO. FMS and MMFS metabolism to their thiofuran methyl sulphoxide derivatives was induced by the treatment of rats with Aroclor 1254 and inhibited in liver microsomes treated with 1-aminobenzotriazole. The NADPH-dependent metabolism of FM to FMSO and MTF to MMFSO in liver microsomes was observed in the presence of S-adenosylmethionine. In summary, both thiofurans can be metabolised in rat liver to their thiofuran methyl sulphide derivatives which can be subsequently S-oxidised to form thiofuran methyl sulphoxides. FM and MTF appear to be substrates for rat hepatic microsomal thiol methyltransferase and the S-oxidation of FMS and MMFS appears to be primarily catalysed by cytochrome P450 forms.

Fungal transformations of antihistamines: metabolism of brompheniramine, chlorpheniramine, and pheniramine to N-oxide and N-demethylated metabolites by the fungus Cunninghamella elegans

1. Two strains of the filamentous fungus Cunninghamella elegans (ATCC 9245 and ATCC 36112) were screened for their ability to metabolize three alkylamine-type antihistamines; brompheniramine, chlorpheniramine and pheniramine. 2. Based on the amount of parent drug recovered after 168 h of incubation, C. elegans ATCC 9245 metabolized 60, 45 and 29% of brompheniramine, chlorpheniramine and pheniramine added respectively. The results from strain ATCC 36112 were essentially identical to those of strain ATCC 9245. 3. The metabolic products of N-oxidation and N-demethylation were isolated by reversed-phase hplc and identified by analysing their mass and proton nmr spectra. For all three antihistamines, the mono-N-demethylated metabolite was produced in the greatest amounts. The chloro- and bromo-substituents appeared not to affect the route of metabolism but did influence the relative amounts of metabolites produced. 4. Circular dichroism spectra of the metabolites and the unmetabolized parent antihistamines showed each to be a racemic mixture of the (+) and (-) optical isomers. In addition, comparison of the metabolism of racemic chlorpheniramine to that of optically pure (+) chlorpheniramine showed no significant differences in the ratios of metabolites produced. There was therefore no metabolic stereoselectivity observed by the fungal enzymes.

Tertiary amines related to brompheniramine: preferred conformations for N-oxygenation by the hog liver flavin-containing monooxygenase

The metabolism of racemic, (D)- and (L)-brompheniramine, a widely used antihistamine, was studied with microsomes and with highly purified flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO) from hog liver. In addition, a number of other similar tertiary amines were evaluated as substrates for FMO activity from hog liver and the kinetic constants obtained were compared with brompheniramine. Although some N-demethylation was observed, the major metabolite of brompheniramine and the other tertiary amines examined in hog liver microsomes was the metabolite containing an aliphatic nitrogen N-oxide. Brompheniramine was extensively N-oxygenated by the highly purified FMO from hog liver. N-Oxygenation of brompheniramine in both microsomes and with highly purified FMO from hog liver was enantioselective. The Km for N-oxygenation of (D)-brompheniramine was markedly lower than the Km for (L)-brompheniramine. (E)- and (Z)-zimeldine are less conformationally flexible model compounds of brompheniramine, and these compounds were also examined and were found to be stereoselectively N-oxygenated by the highly purified FMO from hog liver. The similarities and differences in Km and Vmax values were evaluated in terms of possible conformations of the substrates determined by SYBYL molecular mechanics calculations. Distance map data indicated that FMO preferentially accommodated selected conformations of tertiary amines. Thus, (D)-brompheniramine and (Z)-zimeldine presumably have the aliphatic tertiary amine nitrogen atom and aromatic ring center at a defined distance and geometry and were more efficiently N-oxygenated than their respective isomers.

Thianthrene 5-oxide as a probe of the electrophilicity of hemoprotein oxidizing species

Thianthrene 5-oxide (T-5-O), which is oxidized to the 5,10- and 5,5-dioxides, respectively, by electrophilic and nucleophilic agents, has been used to determine the electronic properties of hemoprotein oxidizing species. Cytochrome P450 oxidizes T-5-O to the 5,10- rather than the 5,5-dioxide but oxidizes the 5,5-dioxide rapidly and the 5,10-dioxide slowly to the 5,5,10-trioxide. Chloroperoxidase oxidizes T-5-O to the 5,10-dioxide but very poorly oxidizes it further to the 5,5,10-trioxide. It does, however, readily oxidize the 5,5-dioxide to the trioxide. The oxidizing species of cytochrome P450 and chloroperoxidase are thus comparably electrophilic, but the former is more powerful. T-5-O is not detectably oxidized by horseradish peroxidase/H2O2 but is oxidized exclusively to the 5,5-dioxide when the peroxide is replaced by dihydroxyfumaric acid (DHFA). The oxygen incorporated into the 5,5-dioxide in this reaction derives from molecular oxygen. This is consistent with the involvement of a DHFA-derived co-oxidizing species. Oxidation of T-5-O by human hemoglobin and H2O2 yields the 5,5- and 5,10-dioxides and the 5,5,10-trioxide. The oxygen in these products derives primarily (greater than 80%) from H2O2. Hemoglobin and H2O2 thus form both a P450-like electrophilic oxidant (5,10-dioxide) and a peroxide-derived nucleophilic oxidant (5,5-dioxide). A large difference in the cis:trans ratios of the 5,10-dioxides produced from T-5-O by cytochrome P450 (1.3:1) and chloroperoxidase (2.5:1) vs hemoglobin (0.1:1) suggests that the hemoglobin active site severely constrains the geometry of the electrophilic oxidation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Spectrophotometric measurement of flavin-containing monooxygenase activity in freshly isolated rat hepatocytes and their cultures

The determination of the mixed function flavin-containing monooxygenase activity in rat liver and in hepatocytes and their cultures by spectrophotometric measurement of the oxygenation of methimazole is complicated by an inhibition caused by some of the reagents used during this method. Optimal conditions were determined for measuring this enzyme activity in microsomal preparations of rat liver and its hepatocytes. Optimal flavin-containing monooxygenase activities were obtained for measurements performed in a 0.25 M N-[2-hydroxy-1,1-bis(hydroxymethyl)ethyl]glycine-EDTA buffer at pH 8.7 and at a methimazole concentration of 2 mM. Data are also presented which show that no interferences caused by either cytochrome P450-dependent enzymes or by the reduction of methimazole disulfide by glutathione have to be taken into account when determining methimazole oxygenation. Finally, the above assay was also used to study flavin-containing monooxygenase activity in primary monolayer cultures of hepatocytes for 6 days.

A reverse-phase liquid chromatographic assay for flavin-containing monooxygenase activity

A rapid, convenient assay for flavin-containing monooxygenase activity is described. The method is based on direct analysis of quenched incubation mixtures by reverse-phase liquid chromatography, and utilizes p-nitrophenyl-1,3-oxathiolane as the substrate. The synthesis of the substrate and the product are described. The usefulness of p-nitrophenyl-1,3-oxathiolane S-oxide formation as a measure of flavin-containing monooxygenase activity was demonstrated using highly purified and microsomal hog and rat liver flavin-containing monooxygenase. The assay is especially useful for determining stereoselectivity of flavin-containing monooxygenase activity in small amounts of crude tissue preparations.