Search

This study was initiated to characterize the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of SNC80 in rats and to evaluate the impact of Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA)-induced inflammation on its body disposition. In vitro, the disappearance and intrinsic clearance (CLint) of SNC80 were measured following incubations in recombinant rat CYPs and in phenotyped liver microsomes from naive and 24-h FCA-treated rats. The unbound fraction (fu) was assessed by ultrafiltration. Based on the Clint values, in vivo blood clearance of 3.35 and 2.48 L/h/kg were predicted in naive and FCA-treated rats. In vivo, SNC80 was administered to naive and 24-h FCA-treated rats at 10 µmol/kg i.v. and 50 µmol/kg p.o. The naive animals showed high plasma clearance (3.1 L/h/kg), low renal clearance (<0.02 L/h/kg) and poor bioavailability (<4%). Following i.v. administration, plasma clearance was lower (22%) in FCA-treated vs. untreated rats. Despite the decreases in fu (∼30%) and CLint (∼40%) in vitro, in vivo the apparent bioavailability and oral clearance were not significantly different between FCA-treated and naive rats. Hepatic and possibly intestinal losses contribute to the low bioavailability of SNC80. Non-hepatic mechanisms may compensate for the decrease in plasma clearance found in FCA-treated rats, preventing an increase in the oral bioavailability of SNC80. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The aim was to identify the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes responsible for the N -demethylation of morphine in vitro . 2. In human liver microsomes, normorphine formation followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with mean K m and V max of 12.4 ± 2.2 mM and 1546 ± 121 pmol min -1 mg -1 , respectively. In microsomes from a panel of 14 human livers phenotyped for 10 CYP enzymes, morphine N -demethylation correlated with testosterone 6β-hydroxylation ( r = 0.91, p <0.001) and paclitaxel 6-α hydroxylation ( r = 0.72, p <0.001), two specific markers of CYP3A4 and CYP2C8, respectively. Normorphine formation decreased when incubated in the presence of troleandomycin or quercetin (by 46 and 33-36%, respectively), which further corroborates the contribution of CYP3A4 and CYP2C8. 3. Among eight recombinant human CYP enzymes tested, CYP3A4 and CYP2C8 exhibited the highest intrinsic clearance. More than 90% of morphine N -demethylation could be accounted for via the action of both CYP3A4 and CYP2C8. 4. The in vitro findings suggest that hepatic CYP3A4, and to a lesser extent CYP2C8, play an important role in the metabolism of morphine into normorphine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]