Browsing by Subject "CYP3A4"

In vitro studies have shown that esomeprazole, the S-isomer of omeprazole, is a metabolism dependent inhibitor (MDI) of cytochrome P450 2C19, an essential drug-metabolizing enzyme. In this study, we characterized the effects of esomeprazole in vivo on CYP2C19, 3A4, and 1A2 using pantoprazole, midazolam, and caffeine, respectively, as probe drugs. In addition, we estimated the half-life of CYP2C19 by observing its recovering activity after inhibition. In a 5-phase study 10 healthy volunteers were administered 20 mg pantoprazole, 50 mg caffeine and 0.5 mg midazolam before and 1, 25, 49 and 73 hours after a 7 day pretreatment with 80mg esomeprazole twice daily. Esomeprazole increased the (R)-pantoprazole’s exposure up to 5-fold and the significant increase lasted at least 72 hours, which suggests strong MDI of CYP2C19. Esomeprazole had a minor effect on CYP3A4 and no effect on CYP1A2. The turnover half-life of CYP2C19 was estimated to be 46 hours. This estimation will be useful in the future for in vitro-in vivo extrapolations and physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling of CYP2C19. Concomitant use of drugs metabolized by CYP2C19 should be considered cautiously because of the clinically relevant strong and prolonged inhibition of CYP2C19 by esomeprazole. Alterations in exposures to drugs metabolized by CYP2C19 are expected after discontinuation of esomeprazole treatment for at least 3-4 days.

Pharmacogenetics is the study of variations in DNA sequence as related to drug response, i.e. pharmacokinetics, drug efficacy and adverse effects. The literature review of the thesis covers pharmacogenetics of analgesics. The most studied genetic variations affecting the analgesics response are the 118A>G variant of µ-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) and several variations in the genes coding for cytochrome (CYP) P450 enzymes. Also variations in the COMT gene and the ABCB1 gene coding for P-glycoprotein have been shown to modify the response to analgesics. Genetic polymorphism of CYP2D6, CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 enzymes was studied in the experimental part of the thesis. The aim of the study was to determine if the allele and haplotype frequencies of the CYP2D6, CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 gene variations are different between Finnish breast cancer patients and healthy volunteers. The results will be further used to explore whether the genetic polymorphism of these metabolic enzymes affects the response to a certain drug substance. The study population consisted of 996 Finnish breast cancer patients. Common genetic variants affecting the enzymatic activity of CYP2D6, CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 were studied. In addition to gene copy number, ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of the CYP2D6 gene were genotyped. For CYP3A4 gene, genotyping was done for intron 6 SNP rs35599367 shown to decrease CYP3A4 gene expression. CYP3A5 SNP 6986A>G leading to splicing defect and premature STOP codon was also genotyped. Genotyping and copy number determination was done using PCR-based TaqMan® 5'-nuclease method. CYP2D6 haplotype analysis and phenotype predictions were derived based on genotype data. According to CYP2D6 enzyme activity individuals are commonly classified as poor metabolizers (PM), intermediate metabolizers (IM), extensive metabolizers (EM) or ultra-rapid metabolizers (UM). The frequencies of CYP2D6 phenotypic classes in our study population were the following: PM, 2.8%; IM 2.0 %; EM 87.7% and UM 7.6%. The haplotype and phenotype frequencies determined for breast cancer patients coincide with the values observed earlier for Finnish healthy volunteers. In our study population, the minor allele frequency (MAF) of the CYP3A4 rs35599367 SNP was 2.7% and the MAF of the CYP3A5 6986G>A SNP 7.6%. The MAF of CYP3A5 6986G>A SNP found in our study is in line with the previous findings for Finnish healthy volunteers. There are no previous publications on the frequency of CYP3A4 rs35599367 SNP in Finnish population. In conclusion, no differences were detected in the frequency of the studied CYP2D6 and CYP3A5 genetic variations between Finnish breast cancer patients and healthy volunteers. Frequency of CYP3A4 rs35599367 SNP in Finnish healthy volunteers should be determined in order to compare it with our findings in the population comprising of breast cancer patients. The results of this study can be further used to explore the effects of CYP2D6, CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 genetic polymorphism on drug response.

Drug transporters and metabolizing enzymes have an important role in drug absorption in the small intestine. Food-drug interactions can affect the function of drug transporters and metabolizing enzymes in the small intestine and hence the bioavailability of drugs may change. Certain beverages have clinically relevant interactions with drugs and drinking of them should be avoided during certain drug treatments. However, possible food-drug interactions need more in vitro and in vivo studies, for example in the case of food additives which are used in the food industry increasingly, to investigate their clinical significance as inhibitors. Overall, investigating food-drug interactions is important as they might be as relevant as drug-drug interactions, especially for drugs that pass the gut wall mainly via transporters or have high presystemic metabolism. In this thesis, the inhibitor potential of 23 food additives was studied toward intestinal transporters and CYP enzymes. The food additives included sweeteners, colorants, and antioxidants. Food additives were tested against four efflux transporters with vesicle transporter assays and in OATP2B1 influx transporter with HEK293 uptake assay. The inhibition of CYP enzymes was tested in human intestinal microsomes. Six food additives were identified as possible inhibitors of BCRP, MRP2, OATP2B1, or P-gp. Two food additives were dual inhibitors. IC50 values were determined in dose-response studies for the potential inhibitors. The IC50 values were compared to the maximum expected concentration in the intestinal lumen to evaluate if the in vivo inhibition of intestinal transporters is possible. Only one food additive had a higher IC50 value than the maximum expected concentration. Eight food additives, specifically six antioxidants and two colorants, inhibited CYP-enzyme metabolism by more than 50%. Based on the results of this thesis, further studies could be performed for the identified inhibitors whose daily consumption is higher than the IC50 value. Certain food additives may inhibit CYP enzymes and the microsome assay used in this thesis is valid and could be used to study the metabolism of intestinal drug-metabolizing enzymes. However, the inhibition of transporters and CYP enzymes could be tested in cell lines, for example Caco-2 cells, to have more realistic intestinal test conditions.