Enantiospecific effects of chiral drugs on cytochrome P450 inhibition in vitro

Abstract

1. The aim of this work was to examine the differences in the inhibitory potency of individual enantiomers and racemic mixtures of selected chiral drugs on human liver microsomal cytochromes P450.

2. The interaction of enantiomeric forms of six drugs (tamsulosin, tolterodine, citalopram, modafinil, zopiclone, ketoconazole) with nine cytochromes P450 (CYP3A4, CYP2E1, CYP2D6, CYP2C19, CYP2C9, CYP2C8, CYP2B6, CYP2A6, CYP1A2) was examined. HPLC methods were used to estimate the extent of the inhibition of specific activity in vitro.

3. Tamsulosin (TAM) and tolterodine (TOL) inhibited CYP3A4 activity with an enantiospecific pattern. The inhibition of CYP3A4 activity differed for R-TAM (K_i 2.88 ± 0.12 µM) and S-TAM (K_i 14.22 ± 0.53 µM) as well as for S-TOL (K_i 1.71 ± 0.03 µM) and R-TOL (K_i 4.78 ± 0.17 µM). Also, the inhibition of CYP2C19 by ketoconazole (KET) cis-enantiomers exhibited enantioselective behavior: the (+)-KET (IC₅₀ 23.64 ± 6.25 µM) was more potent than (−)-KET (IC₅₀ 66.12 ± 12.6 µM). The inhibition of CYP2C19 by modafinil (MOD) enantiomers (R-MOD IC₅₀ = 51.79 ± 8.58 µM, S-MOD IC₅₀ = 48.62 ± 9.74 µM) and the inhibition of CYP2D6 by citalopram (CIT) enantiomers (R-CIT IC₅₀ = 68.17 ± 5.70 µM, S-CIT IC₅₀ = 62.63 ± 7.89 µM) was not enantiospecific.

4. Although enantiospecific interactions were found (TAM, TOL, KET), they are probably not clinically relevant as the plasma levels are generally lower than the drug concentration needed for prominent inhibition (at least 50% of CYP activity).

• Enantiomer
• human liver microsomes
• inhibition studies

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

This work was supported by the Czech Science Agency [Grant GACR 13-01809S] and infrastructural support from [CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0041], and IGA UPOL_LF_2015_004 and NPU: LO1304.