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Biomedical subjects

Barry C Jones

Publications and source records attributed to Barry C Jones.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Induction of cytochrome P450: assessment in an immortalized human hepatocyte cell line (Fa2N4) using a novel higher throughput cocktail assay.

Over recent years the application of cocktail studies to measure biological markers has become increasingly popular. The current study investigated a novel approach in assessing cytochrome P450 (P450) enzyme induction in an immortalized cell line using a cocktail of five P450 substrate probes compared with the traditional single-probe approach. The findings reported herein support use of a cocktail approach to assess the induction of the major P450s, namely, CYP3A4, CYP1A2, and CYP2C9. CYP2C19 and CYP2D6 could also be followed as part of the cocktail approach reported. Response to prototypical inducers did not differ to those observed in the presence of the specific probes alone. Consequently, this approach requires significantly fewer sample numbers if screening the induction potential of more than one P450. Moreover, these studies highlight the utility of the immortalized cell line Fa2N4 as a robust model system for induction studies. In conclusion, the current experimental setup is an improvement on current approaches used to assess P450 induction, significantly increasing sample throughput.

Aryl Hydrocarbon Hydroxylases↗
PubMed2006

CYP3A5 genotype has significant effect on quinine 3-hydroxylation in Tanzanians, who have lower total CYP3A activity than a Swedish population.

OBJECTIVES: To study the correlation between CYP3A5 genotype and quinine 3-hydroxylation in black Tanzanian and Swedish Caucasians as well as to investigate the interethnic differences in CYP3A activity between the two populations. METHODS: Tanzanian (n=144) and Swedish (n=136) healthy study participants were given a single oral 250 mg dose of quinine hydrochloride and a 16-h post-dose blood sample was collected. The metabolic ratio of quinine/3-hydroxyquinine was determined in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography. All the participants were genotyped for the known mutations of CYP3A5, which are relevant for the respective population. Correlation between quinine metabolic ratio and CYP3A5 genotype as well as the interethnic difference in CYP3A activity between the two populations was studied. RESULTS: Tanzanians had significantly higher (P<0.0001) mean quinine metabolic ratio (9.5+/-3.5) than Swedes (7.6+/-3.1). As expected, the frequency of high CYP3A5 expression alleles was higher in Tanzanians (51%) than in Swedes (7%). The mean+/-SD quinine metabolic ratio (10.7+/-3.9) in Tanzanians homozygous for low CYP3A5 expression gene was significantly higher than the corresponding mean metabolic ratio in participants heterozygous (9.5+/-3.3; P=0.02) or homozygous (8.1+/-3.1; P=0.002) for high expression CYP3A5 alleles, respectively. A tendency to higher quinine metabolic ratio in Swedes with low expression alleles compared with those with one or two high expression alleles was observed. Tanzanians homozygous for low CYP3A5 expression gene (i.e. only CYP3A4 is expressed) had significantly (P<0.0001) higher quinine metabolic ratio (10.7+/-3.9) than corresponding Swedes (7.7+/-3.1). CONCLUSIONS: Clear interethnic differences were observed in the activity of CYP3A between Tanzanians and Swedes. A significant association is noted between CYP3A5 genotype and quinine 3-hydroxylation in Tanzanians, indicating a significant contribution of CYP3A5 to total 3A activity. The CYP3A4 catalyzed hydroxylation of quinine (two low CYP3A5 expression alleles) was lower in Tanzanians than in Swedes.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Drug-drug interactions for UDP-glucuronosyltransferase substrates: a pharmacokinetic explanation for typically observed low exposure (AUCi/AUC) ratios.

Glucuronidation is a listed clearance mechanism for 1 in 10 of the top 200 prescribed drugs. The objective of this article is to encourage those studying ligand interactions with UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) to adequately consider the potential consequences of in vitro UGT inhibition in humans. Spurred on by interest in developing potent and selective inhibitors for improved confidence around UGT reaction phenotyping, and the increased availability of recombinant forms of human UGTs, several recent studies have reported in vitro inhibition of UGT enzymes. In some cases, the observed potency of UGT inhibitors in vitro has been interpreted as having potential relevance in humans via pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions. Although there are reported examples of clinically relevant drug-drug interactions for UGT substrates, exposure increases of the aglycone are rarely greater than 100% in the presence of an inhibitor relative to its absence (i.e., AUCi/AUC < or = 2). This small magnitude in change is in contrast to drugs primarily cleared by cytochrome P450 enzymes, where exposures have been reported to increase as much as 35-fold on coadministration with an inhibitor (e.g., ketoconazole inhibition of CYP3A4-catalyzed terfenadine metabolism). In this article the evidence for purported clinical relevance of potent in vitro inhibition of UGT enzymes will be assessed, taking the following into account: in vitro data on the enzymology of glucuronide formation from aglycone, pharmacokinetic principles based on empirical data for inhibition of metabolism, and clinical data on the pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions of drugs primarily cleared by glucuronidation.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

In vitro inhibitory effect of 1-aminobenzotriazole on drug oxidations catalyzed by human cytochrome P450 enzymes: a comparison with SKF-525A and ketoconazole.

1-Aminobenzotriazole (ABT) is widely used as a non-specific inhibitor of animal cytochrome P450 (CYP). In the present study, the inhibitory effect of ABT was investigated on drug oxidations catalyzed by human CYP isoforms. This inhibitory effect was compared with that of SKF-525A, another non-specific inhibitor, and ketoconazole, a potent inhibitor of CYP3A. Bacurovirus-expressed recombinant human CYP isoforms were used as an enzyme source. The specific activities for human CYP isoforms are: phenacetin O-deethylation, for CYP1A2; diclofenac 4'-hydroxylation, for CYP2C9; S-mephenytoin 4'-hydroxylation, for CYP2C19; bufuralol 1'-hydroxylation, for CYP2D6; chlorzoxazone 6-hydroxylation, for CYP2E1; testosterone 6beta-hydroxylation, nifedipine oxidation, and midazolam 1'-hydroxylation, for CYP3A4. ABT inhibited both CYP1A2-dependent activity (Ki=330 microM) and CYP2E1-dependent activity (Ki=8.7 microM). In contrast, SKF-525A weakly inhibited CYP1A2-dependent activities (46% inhibition at 1200 microM) and CYP2E1-dependent activities (65% inhibition at 1000 microM). ABT exhibited the highest Ki value for CYP2C9-dependent diclofenac 4'-hydroxylation among those determined by this assay (Ki=3500 microM). Moreover, SKF-525A showed strong inhibition of CYP2D6-dependent bufuralol 1'-hydroxylation (Ki=0.043 microM). Ketoconazole inhibited all tested drug oxidations, however, its inhibitory effect on CYP1A2-dependent activities was very weak (50% inhibition at 120 microM). ABT, SKF-525A, and ketoconazole showed different selectivity and had a wide range of Ki values for the drug oxidations catalyzed by human CYP enzymes. Therefore, we conclude that inhibitory studies designed to predict the contribution of CYP enzymes to the metabolism of certain compounds should be performed using multiple CYP inhibitors, such as ABT, SKF-525A, and ketoconazole.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Reaction phenotyping in drug discovery: moving forward with confidence?

For the pharmaceutical industry, one of the challenges in evaluating the risk of future compound attrition at the discovery stage is the successful prediction of the major routes of clearance in humans. For compounds cleared by metabolism, such information will help to avoid the development of compounds that will exhibit large interpatient differences in pharmacokinetics via 1). routes of metabolism catalyzed by functionally polymorphic enzymes and/or 2). clinically significant metabolic drug-drug interactions, in the later stages of development. The degree of intersubject variability that is acceptable for a drug candidate is uncertain in the discovery stage where knowledge of other important factors is limited or unavailable (i.e. therapeutic index, pharmacodynamic variability, etc). Reaction phenotyping is the semi-quantitative in vitro estimation of the relative contributions of specific drug-metabolizing enzymes to the metabolism of a test compound. However, reaction phenotyping in the discovery stage of drug development is complicated by the absence of radiolabelled parent compound or metabolite bioanalytical standards relative to later stages of development. In this commentary, some of the approaches, based on published data, which can be taken to overcome these challenges are discussed. In addition, knowledge of the molecular structure (i.e. specific chemical substituents), physicochemical properties, and routes of clearance in animals can all help in making a successful prediction for the routes of clearance in humans. In combination, the objective of these studies should be to reduce to a minimum the risk of finding significant inter-patient differences in pharmacokinetics at a later stage in development due to significant metabolism by polymorphic enzymes or drug-drug interactions. Consequently, this data should be used to avoid costly late stage attrition.

Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System↗
PubMed2002

Structure-activity relationships of 1-alkyl-5-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)- 5-[2-[(3-substituted)-1-azetidinyl]ethyl]-2-piperidones. 1. Selective antagonists of the neurokinin-2 receptor.

The design, synthesis, and pharmacological evaluation of a novel class of neurokinin-2 (NK2) antagonists 1-alkyl-5-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-5-[2-[(3-substituted)-1-azetidinyl]ethyl]-2-piperidones (5-44) are described. These compounds are formally derived from 2 by incorporating the metabolically vulnerable N-methylamide function into a more stable six-membered ring lactam 4, resulting in increased stability in human liver microsome (HLM) preparations relative to 2 (T1/2(HLM) of 30 min vs <10 min for 2). This series was further optimized by replacing the 4,4-disubstituted piperidine functionality found in 4 with simple 3-substituted azetidines. This series, exemplified by 1-benzyl-5-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-5-[2-[3-(4-morpholinyl)-1-azetidinyl]ethyl]-2-piperidone 5, was found to possess excellent functional potency for the NK2 receptor in the Rabbit pulmonary artery (RPA) assay (pA2 = 9.3) and increased in vitro metabolic stability (T1/2(HLM) = 70 min) relative to 4. Metabolic route identification studies revealed that N-benzyl oxidation was a major route in this relatively lipophilic lead (log D = 3.2). Further exploration of the N-lactam substituent SAR targeting reduced lipophilicity to attenuate P-450 metabolism revealed that incorporation of a cyclopropylmethyl group in this region of the molecule gave a balance of good potency and high metabolic stability. For example, the significantly less lipophilic analogue 29 (log D = 2.3) possessed both good functional potency (RPA, pA2 = 8.1) and high in vitro metabolic stability (T1/2(HLM) = 120 min). Optimization in this N-cyclopropylmethyllactam series by modification of the nature of the azetidine 3-substituent as a strategy to further increase potency and moderate log D led to the identification of sulfamide analogue 33, which possessed both excellent metabolic stability in vitro (T1/2(HLM) >120 min) and high potency in both RPA (pA2 = 8.9) and human bladder smooth muscle (pK(b) = 8.9) functional assays. In addition, NK2 antagonist 33 (IC50 = 4 nM) showed excellent selectivity over both the related human neurokinin receptors h-NK1 (IC50 = 7.9 microM) and h-NK3 (IC50 = 1.8 microM) in radioligand binding studies.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Development of a combined protein and pharmacophore model for cytochrome P450 2C9.

A combined protein and pharmacophore model for cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP2C9) has been derived using various computational chemistry techniques. A combination of pharmacophore modeling (using 31 metabolic pathways for 27 substrates), protein modeling (using the rabbit CYP2C5/3 crystal structure), and molecular orbital calculations was used to derive a model that incorporated steric, electronic, and chemical stability properties. The initial pharmacophore model (based on a subset of 17 metabolic pathways for 16 substrates) and the protein model used to construct the combined model were derived independently and showed a large degree of complementarity. The combined model is in agreement with experimental results concerning the substrates used to derive the model and with site-directed mutagenesis data available for CYP2C9. The model has been successfully used to predict the metabolism of substrates not used to construct the model, of which four examples are discussed in detail. The model has also been successful in explaining the differences in substrate specificity between CYP2C9 and CYP2C19.

Amino Acid Sequence↗