The metabolism of tremorine. Identification of a new biologically active metabolite, N-(4-pyrrolidino-2-2-butynyl)-gamma-aminobutyric acid

Aldehyde oxidase and its role as a drug metabolizing enzyme

Aldehyde oxidase (AO) is a cytosolic enzyme that belongs to the family of structurally related molybdoflavoproteins like xanthine oxidase (XO). The enzyme is characterized by broad substrate specificity and marked species differences. It catalyzes the oxidation of aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes and various heteroaromatic rings as well as reduction of several functional groups. The references to AO and its role in metabolism date back to the 1950s, but the importance of this enzyme in the metabolism of drugs has emerged in the past fifteen years. Several reviews on the role of AO in drug metabolism have been published in the past decade indicative of the growing interest in the enzyme and its influence in drug metabolism. Here, we present a comprehensive monograph of AO as a drug metabolizing enzyme with emphasis on marketed drugs as well as other xenobiotics, as substrates and inhibitors. Although the number of drugs that are primarily metabolized by AO are few, the impact of AO on drug development has been extensive. We also discuss the effect of AO on the systemic exposure and clearance these clinical candidates. The review provides a comprehensive analysis of drug discovery compounds involving AO with the focus on developmental candidates that were reported in the past five years with regards to pharmacokinetics and toxicity. While there is only one known report of AO-mediated clinically relevant drug-drug interaction (DDI), a detailed description of inhibitors and inducers of AO known to date has been presented here and the potential risks associated with DDI. The increasing recognition of the importance of AO has led to significant progress in predicting the site of AO-mediated metabolism using computational methods. Additionally, marked species difference in expression of AO makes it is difficult to predict human clearance with high confidence. The progress made towards developing in vivo, in vitro and in silico approaches for predicting AO metabolism and estimating human clearance of compounds that are metabolized by AO have also been discussed.

[A memoir of my researches on xenobiotic metabolism for 48 years--researches on Kanemi Yusho and endocrine disrupting chemicals]

The author started a research on xenobiotic metabolism at Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyushu University in 1965. In 1968, an epidemic of a "strange disease", called Yusho, occurred in western Japan. The epidemic was soon identified to be a food poisoning caused by the ingestion of commercial Kanemi rice bran oil which had been accidentally contaminated with large amounts of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and their related compounds such as polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs.) At first, in this review, our toxicological studies on Yusho during the early thirty years were briefly described. Next, the studies on aldehyde oxidase, a molybdenum hydroxylase, which is involved in the lactam formation reaction such as 1-phenyl-2-(2-oxopyrrolidine)pentane(oxoprolintane) from 1-phenyl-2-pyrrolidinopentane(prolintane) and 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine(MPTP) lactam from 1-methyl-4-phenyl-2,3-dihydropyridinium ion (MPDP⁺) were also presented. Finally, we investigated how the xenobiotic metabolism of endocrine disrupting chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA) and some isoflavones affects their estrogenic activities. In this study, we demonstrated that BPA is converted to 4-methyl-2,4-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)pent-1-ene (MBP), an active metabolite as estrogen, by rat liver S9. In the cases of isoflavones, although genistein was inactivated, biochanin A, 4'-methoxy analogue of genistein, was activated to genistein by O-demethylation with rat liver S9.

Identification of the human liver enzymes involved in the metabolism of the antimigraine agent almotriptan

Almotriptan is a novel highly selective 5-hydroxytryptamine(1B/1D) agonist developed for the acute oral treatment of migraine. The in vitro metabolism of almotriptan has been investigated using human liver subcellular fractions and cDNA-expressed human enzymes, to study the metabolic pathways and identify the enzymes responsible for the formation of the major metabolites. Specific enzymes were identified by correlation analysis, chemical inhibition studies, and incubation with various cDNA expressed human enzymes. Human liver microsomes and S9 fraction metabolize almotriptan by 2-hydroxylation of the pyrrolidine group to form a carbinolamine metabolite intermediate, a reaction catalyzed by CYP3A4 and CYP2D6. This metabolite is further oxidized by aldehyde dehydrogenase to the open ring gamma-aminobutyric acid metabolite. Almotriptan is also metabolized at the dimethylaminoethyl group by N-demethylation, a reaction that is carried out by five different cytochrome P450s, flavin monooxygenase-3 mediated N-oxidation, and MAO-A catalyzed oxidative deamination to form the indole acetic acid and the indole ethyl alcohol derivatives of almotriptan. The use of human liver mitochondria confirmed the contribution of MAO-A to the metabolism of almotriptan. Both, the gamma-aminobutyric acid and the indole acetic acid metabolites have been found to be the major in vivo metabolites of almotriptan in humans. In addition, different clinical trials conducted to study the effects of CYP3A4, CYP2D6, and MAO-A on the pharmacokinetics of almotriptan confirmed the involvement of these enzymes in the metabolic clearance of this drug and that no dose changes are required in the presence of inhibitors of these enzymes.

Modification of drug-induced tremor by systemic administration of kainic acid and quisqualic acid in mice

The effects of excitatory amino acids, kainic acid and quisqualic acid, on the tremorine- and harmaline-induced tremor were quantitatively examined in mice using the power spectral analyzing method. The severity of the tremor was determined quantitatively in terms of the cumulative sum of the mean square value of the data. Kainic acid enhanced the tremor induced by tremorine but depressed the tremor induced by harmaline. Quisqualic acid depressed the tremor induced by both tremorine and harmaline in a dose-dependent manner. Kainic acid shifted the frequency of each component of the tremor induced by tremorine to the high frequency side, but quisqualic acid did not affect the frequency of tremor of the tremor induced by tremorine. The frequency of tremor of the tremor induced by harmaline was shifted by both excitatory amino acids to the low frequency side, and another component of tremor in the power spectral densities developed, of which the mean square values were very small. The present results suggest that, at least in part, the glutamatergic system can take a role on the modification of drug-induced tremor.

Sulphoxide metabolites of thioridazine in man

Chromatograms of urine extracts from patients taking thioridazine contain several different sulphoxide metabolites. Some of these have not hitherto been described or identified. Two of the unknown metabolites appear, from chemical tests and mass spectrometry, to be isomers of the already known thioridazine ring-sulphoxide and sulphoridazine ring-sulphoxide from which they can be produced by treatment with trifluoroacetic anhydride. Two others appear, by similar identification tests and i.r. analysis, to be lactams of mesoridazine ring-sulphoxide and of sulphoridazine ring-sulphoxide.

Human placental indanol dehydrogenase: some properties of the microsomal enzyme

Indanol dehydrogenase activity of human placenta was examined in vitro. The enzyme, primarily localized in the particulate fractions of placenta, catalysed conversion of 1-indanol to 1-indanone in the presence of oxidized pyridine nucleotides. Both NAD+ and NADP+ supported the reaction with nearly equal efficiency.

Species differences in the in vitro metabolism of phencyclidine

The metabolism of 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)-piperidine (phencyclidine or PCP) by liver preparations from cat, monkey, rabbit and rat has been studied. 4-Phenyl-4-piperidinocyclohexanol (I), 1-1-phenylcyclohexyl-4-hydroxy-piperidine (II), N-(5-hydroxypentyl)-1-phenylcyclohexylamine (IX) and 5-(1-phenylcyclohexylamino)-valeric acid (X) were found in all species, but liver preparations of rat and rabbit were much more active than those of cat or monkey in metabolizing PCP. Only rabbit produced 4-(4'-hydroxypiperidino)-4-phenylcyclohexanol (III) in amounts detectable by g.l.c. Mass balance calculations of PCP, I, II, III, IX and X in the cat, monkey and rat indicate that other metabolic pathways not measured in this study are operative.

Pyrrolines as prodrugs of gamma-aminobutyric acid analogues

delta 1-Pyrroline, 5-methyl-delta 1-pyrroline, and 5,5-dimethyl-delta 1-pyrroline have been identified as substances metabolized to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), 4-aminopentanoic acid (methylGABA), and 4-amino-4-methylpentanoic acid (dimethylGABA), respectively. An enzyme system residing in the soluble fraction of rabbit liver catalyzes the conversion of delta 1-pyrroline to GABA and its lactam, 2-pyrrolidinone. Acetaldehyde, allopurinol, and cyanide inhibited the reaction. Incubation of deuterium-labeled delta 1-pyrroline with mouse brain homogenates produced deuterated GABA. Mouse liver 10,000 g supernatant and mouse brain homogenates converted 5-methyl-delta 1-pyrroline to methylGABA, and 5,5-dimethyl-delta 1-pyrroline to dimethylGABA. Four hours after intraperitoneal injection of 5-methyl-delta 1-pyrroline (200 mg/kg), methylGABA was detected in mouse brain (0.27 mumol/g). DimethylGABA (1.21 mumol/g) was determined in mouse brain 30 min after intraperitoneal administration of 5,5-dimethyl-delta 1-pyrroline (200 mg/kg). Neither methylGABA nor dimethylGABA penetrated into the central nervous system when administered in the periphery. The present studies suggest that pyrrolines may represent a chemical class of brain-penetrating precursors of pharmacologically active analogues of GABA.

Metabolism in rats and man of piromidic acid, a new antibacterial agent

1. Metabolism of the antibacterial, piromidic acid (5,8-dihydro-8-ethyl-5-oxo-2-pyrrolidinopyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine-6-carboxylic acid) was investigated in rats and human subjects. Ten metabolites and the unchanged drug were found in the urine and the bile of both species after oral administration. 2. Metabolites were identified by comparison with authentic materials, except for the unstable metabolite, M-VI, for which a probable structure is proposed. The metabolic pathway of piromidic acid involved hydroxylation in the pyrrolidine ring to give the 2- and 3-hydroxy-derivatives (M-II and M-V). M-II was further metabolized to the corresponding gamma-aminobutyric acid derivative (M-IV) and the 2-5-dihydroxypyrrolidine derivative (M-VI) which was further metabolized to the 2-amino-pyridopyrimidine carboxylic acid (M-III). Piromidic acid, M-V, M-II, M-III and M-IV were partly excreted as respective glucuronides. 3. Metabolites, except glucuronides, exhibited antibacterial activity; M-V and M-II showed greater activity than piromidic acid. 4. The metabolism of piromidic acid is discussed in relation to the physicochemical properties of the drug and its metabolites.

The isolation, identification and synthesis of two metabolites of guanethidine formed in pig and rabbit liver homogenates

1. Two metabolites of radioactively labelled guanethidine were isolated from rabbit and pig liver homogenates by ion-exchange chromatography on a sulphonic acid resin. 2. One of the metabolites was eluted from the column with ammonia and identified as 2-(6-carboxyhexylamino)ethylguanidine on the basis of the elemental analysis, i.r. spectrum and pH titration curve of the pure compound, and the observed partial loss of tritium for ring-labelled guanethidine during the formation of this metabolite. 3. This identification was confirmed by synthesis. 4. 2-(6-Carboxyhexylamino)ethylguanidine underwent ring-closure in hot alkaline solution to 1-(6-carboxyhexyl)-2-iminoimidazolidine. 5. The other metabolite of guanethidine was eluted from the ion-exchange column with 6m-hydrochloric acid along with the unchanged drug. It was purified by countercurrent distribution and shown to be identical with synthetic guanethidine N-oxide. 6. The two metabolites and the product of ring-closure had less than one-tenth of the antihypertensive activity of guanethidine in the renal-hypertensive rat and are unlikely to contribute to the pharmacological properties of the drug.