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Biomedical subjects

C O Meese

Publications and source records attributed to C O Meese.

39 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Tracing the human metabolism of stable isotope-labelled drugs by ex vivo NMR spectroscopy. A revision of S-carboxymethyl-L-cysteine biotransformation.

A direct structural identification, and quantitative assessment below the 50 nmol/ml level, of the full pattern of renally excreted metabolites is made possible by 13C NMR measurements of untreated urine samples when stable isotope-labelled (13C) drug analogues are administered to humans. The full potential of the new ex vivo NMR approach is exemplified by a study, for a group of volunteers, of S-carboxymethyl-L-cysteine metabolism. The metabolic sulphoxidation pathway of S-carboxymethyl-L-cysteine in man, accepted so far, needs to be profoundly revised on the basis of the 13C NMR results.

Administration, Oral↗

Identification of thiodiglycolic acid, thiodiglycolic acid sulfoxide, and (3-carboxymethylthio)lactic acid as major human biotransformation products of S-carboxymethyl-L-cysteine.

S-Carboxymethyl-L-cysteine (CMC) is used both as an orally administered mucolytic agent and as a probe drug for uncovering polymorphic sulfoxidation of other sulfur-containing drugs in humans. However, several recent studies could not confirm the formation of significant amounts of urinary sulfoxides of CMC or its decarboxylation product S-methyl-L-cysteine. The metabolism of CMC and a 13C-labeled isotopomer was therefore reinvestigated in 11 and 14 humans, respectively, and emphasis was laid on monitoring of potential alternative metabolic pathways. Combined capillary gas chromatography/electron impact or negative-ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry employing stable isotope-labeled analogues as internal standards were used for identification and quantification of CMC metabolites in human urine. Three nitrogen-free metabolites that were identified as thiodiglycolic acid (TDGA, mean: 19.8% of the dose/24 hr), thiodiglycolic acid sulfoxide (TDGA-SO, mean: 13.3% of the dose/24 hr), and (3-carboxymethylthio)lactic acid (TLA, mean: 2.1% of the dose/8 hr), cumulatively account for about one-third of the dose during a urinary collection period of 24 hr. In addition, trace amounts of both TDGA and TLA exist as endogenous components in urine from persons not administered exogenous CMC at levels of about 5 and 1 nmol/ml, respectively. Both major metabolites TDGA and TDGA-SO, that were not considered in previous sulfoxidation phenotyping, are predominantly excreted after 8 hr. These results demonstrate the existence of a pyruvate-like metabolic pathway and suggest the necessity of a revision of the hitherto accepted biotransformation route of CMC in humans.

Biotransformation↗

A nuclear magnetic resonance study of sparteine delta metabolite structure.

Originally, the enamines 2,3- and 5,6-didehydrosparteine (2a and 3a, respectively) had been characterized by GC/MS as metabolites after administration of (-)-sparteine sulfate (1a.H2SO4). Since the existence of free enamines in aqueous medium seemed rather doubtful, the metabolism of (-)-sparteine was reinvestigated by high-resolution 1H-, 2H-, and 13C-NMR spectroscopy. When synthetic 1,2-didehydrosparteinium monoperchlorate (4a.ClO4) is dissolved in aqueous medium at pH 4-9, sterically uniform (2S)-hydroxysparteine (6a) is formed, as is proven unequivocally by 1H- and 13C-NMR. However, at pH less than or equal to 2, this carbinolamine eliminates water under reconstitution of the iminium structure 4a. No carbinolamine is formed, in contrast, from synthetic 1,6-didehydrosparteinium monoperchlorate (5a.ClO4). Upon oral application of [2R-2H]sparteine (1b), as the sulfate, the respective carbinolamine and iminium structures 6b and 5b are identified in the urines by 2H-NMR spectroscopy. Reversed-phase TLC likewise confirms the different structural principle of the two main sparteine metabolites. The free enamine bases, characterized by GC/MS, thus must be regarded as artifacts, formed in the work-up requisite for GC analysis.

Chromatography, Thin Layer↗