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The absorption, metabolism, and excretion of [14C]aprepitant, a potent and selective human substance P receptor antagonist for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, was evaluated in rats and dogs. Aprepitant was metabolized extensively and no parent drug was detected in the urine of either species. The elimination of drug-related radioactivity, after i.v. or p.o. administration of [14C]aprepitant, was mainly via biliary excretion in rats and by way of both biliary and urinary excretion in dogs. Aprepitant was the major component in the plasma at the early time points (up to 8 h), and plasma metabolite profiles of aprepitant were qualitatively similar in rats and dogs. Several oxidative metabolites of aprepitant, derived from N-dealkylation, oxidation, and opening of the morpholine ring, were detected in the plasma. Glucuronidation represented an important pathway in the metabolism and excretion of aprepitant in rats and dogs. An acid-labile glucuronide of [14C]aprepitant accounted for approximately 18% of the oral dose in rat bile. The instability of this glucuronide, coupled with its presence in bile but absence in feces, suggested the potential for enterohepatic circulation of aprepitant via this conjugate. In dogs, the glucuronide of [14C]aprepitant, together with four glucuronides derived from phase I metabolites, were present as major metabolites in the bile, accounting collectively for approximately 14% of the radioactive dose over a 4- to 24-h period after i.v. dosing. Two very polar carboxylic acids, namely, 4-fluoro-alpha-hydroxybenzeneacetic acid and 4-fluoro-alpha-oxobenzeneacetic acid, were the predominant drug-related entities in rat and dog urine.

The pharmacokinetics and oral bioavailability of (R)-N-[4-[2-[[2-hydroxy-2-(pyridin-3-yl)ethyl]amino]ethyl]phenyl]-4-[4-[4-(trifluoromethylphenyl]thiazol-2-yl]benzenesulfonamide (1), a 3-pyridyl thiazole benzenesulfonamide beta3-adrenergic receptor agonist, were investigated in rats, dogs, and monkeys. Systemic clearance was higher in rats (approximately 30 ml/min/kg) than in dogs and monkeys (both approximately 10 ml/min/kg), and oral bioavailability was 17, 27, and 4%, respectively. Since systemic clearance was 25 to 40% of hepatic blood flow in these species, hepatic extraction was expected to be low, and it was likely that oral bioavailability was limited either by absorption or a large first-pass effect in the gut. The absorption and excretion of 3H-labeled 1 were investigated in rats, and only 28% of the administered radioactivity was orally absorbed. Subsequently, the hepatic extraction of 1 was evaluated in rats (30%) and monkeys (47%). The low oral bioavailability in rats could be explained completely by poor oral absorption and hepatic first-pass metabolism; in monkeys, oral absorption was either less than in rats or first-pass extraction in the gut was greater. In an attempt to increase oral exposure, the pharmacokinetics and oral bioavailability of two potential prodrugs of 1, an N-ethyl [(R)-N-[4-[2-[ethyl[2-hydroxy-2-(3-pyridinyl)ethyl]amino]ethyl]phenyl]-4-[4-[4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]thiazol-2-yl]benzenesulfonamide; 2] and a morpholine derivative [(R)-N-[4-[2-[2-(3-pyridinyl)morpholin-4-yl]ethyl]phenyl]-4-[4-[4-(trifluoromethyl)- phenyl]thiazol-2-yl]benzenesulfonamide; 3], were evaluated in monkeys. Conversion to 1 was low (3%) with both derivatives, and neither entity was an effective prodrug, but the oral bioavailability of 3 (56%) compared with 1 (4%) was significantly improved. The hypothesis that the increased oral bioavailability of 3 was due to a reduction in hydrogen bonding sites in the molecule led to the design of (R)-N-[4-[2-[[2-hydroxy-2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethyl]amino]ethyl]phenyl]-4-[4-(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)thiazol-2-yl]benzenesulfonamide (4), a 2-pyridyl beta3-adrenergic receptor agonist with improved oral bioavailability in rats and monkeys.

(R)-N-[4-[2-[[2-Hydroxy-2-(pyridin-3-yl)ethyl]amino]ethyl]phenyl]- 4-[4-(4-trifluoro-methylphenyl)thiazol-2-yl]benzenesulfonamide (1) is a potent and selective agonist of the human beta3-adrenergic receptor. We report herein the data from studies of the metabolism and excretion of 1 in rats. Five metabolites were identified in the bile of male Sprague-Dawley rats administered 3H-labeled 1 by either oral gavage (10 mg/kg) or intravenous injection (3 mg/kg). These included a pyridine N-oxide derivative (M2), a primary amine resulting from N-dealkylation and loss of the pyridinyl-2-hydroxyethyl group (M4), a carboxylic acid derived from N-dealkylation and loss of the pyridyl-2-hydroxyethyl amine (M5), and the corresponding taurine and isethionic acid conjugates (M1 and M3). Metabolites M1 and M3 also were identified in rats treated with M5 and were generated in incubations of M5 with rat liver subcellular fractions in the presence of ATP and coenzyme A with supplementary taurine or isethionic acid. These results suggest that M5 is the precursor of M1 and M3 and that the formation of these conjugated metabolites follows similar mechanisms of amino acid conjugation. On the other hand, M2, M4, and M5 were produced from 1 in an NADPH-dependent manner in incubations with liver microsomes from rats, dogs, monkeys, and humans. In human liver preparations, these routes of biotransformation were shown to be catalyzed by cytochrome P450 3A4. In a bidirectional transport assay, transport of 1 across a monolayer of cells expressing P-glycoprotein (Pgp) was observed to be similar to that of vinblastine, which is an established substrate of the transporter protein. This finding, together with the observation that the parent compound was excreted in the feces of bile duct-cannulated animals following intravenous dosing, suggests that 1 is subject to Pgp-mediated excretion from intestine of rats.