Intro to Drug Metabolism & Phase I Metabolism Flashcards
Why are some drugs/xenobiotics metabolized?
It’s a defense mechanism
- To increase water solubility of hydrophobic molecules for excretion
- To protect against all types of “reactive” molecules
Where are drugs/xenobiotics metabolized?
In the liver
- gets absorbed in the gut and does the first-pass right after which has an impact on oral F (decreases the fraction that gets through)
- Every subsequent pass – CLH (metabolism of a portion of drug molecules in systemic circulation occurs on every pass back through the liver)
How are drugs/xenobiotics metabolized?
Phase I enzymes & Phase II enzymes
Two general sets of enzyme-catalyzed reactions
– Phase I enzymes: introduce or expose polar groups
– Phase II enzymes: “synthetic” – form conjugates
What affects the rates of drug/xenobiotic metabolism?
- Enzyme expression levels (when enzyme expression increases, the rate of clearance will increase because you have more enzyme that catalyzes the reaction)
- Inhibition (if you bind something to the enzyme and inhibit it, clearance decreases)
- Genetic polymorphisms/variability
The balanced molecular properties that drugs need:
- aqueous solubility high enough to dissolve in the
gut to drive absorption and to reach concentrations high enough to saturate receptor in tissues - hydrophobic enough to diffuse across membranes
and, in many cases, to enhance binding affinity to receptor
A drug is excreted unchanged via
kidney
What does it mean when a drug is metabolized?
chemical structures and properties are changed through enzyme-catalyzed reactions
These drugs may be excreted primarily
unchanged:
Polar and ionic drugs
Hydrophobic drugs are metabolized to become
polar, ionic and more water soluble
Orally delivered drugs are subject to both
prehepatic metabolism in the gut and more
extensive first-pass metabolism in the liver that
lowers bioavailability.
Two types of Enzyme-Catalyzed Reactions
- Primarily Xenobiotic
- Primarily Endobiotic
Primarily Xenobiotic
not expected to be in body
Primarily Endobiotic
synthesized in body
Phase I Class of Drug Metabolizing Enzymes
Introduce or Expose Polar Groups
Phase II Class of Drug Metabolizing Enzymes
Use “activated cofactors” to form drug-conjugates
Phase I Groups
Oxidation
Oxidation/Reduction
Hydrolysis/Hydration
Phase II Groups
Nucleophile in Drug
Electrophile in Drug
Oxidation
- Cytochrome P450 (CYP)
- Flavin Monooxygenase (FMO)
- Require NADPH + O2
- reveal a nucleophile: a Phase I Rxn
Oxidation/Reduction
- Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH)/Carbonyl Reductase (CBR)
- Aldehyde Dehydrogenase (ALDH)
- Require NAD+/NADH
Hydrolysis/Hydration
- Esterase (CES)
- Amidase
- Epoxide Hydrolase (EH)
- Reactions with H2O
Nucleophile in Drug
Glucuronosyl Transferase (UGT)
Sulfotransferase (SULT)
N-Acetyl Transferase (NAT)
Electrophile in Drug
Glutathione S-Transferase (GST)
CYPs
- aliphatic C-H -> C-OH
- N-, O-, S-dealkylation
- dehalogenation
- aromatic C-H -> C-OH
- epoxidation C=C
- N-H -> N-OH
CYPs & FMOs
N-, S-oxidation
ADH & ALDH
- R2CHOH –> R2C=O
- aldehyde oxidation RCH=O -> RCO2H
Esterase
Amidase
- ester hydrolysis
- amide hydrolysis
Epoxide hydrolase
epoxide hydration
- glucuronides – UGTs
- sulfates – SULTs
- peptide conjugates – N-acyl-amino acid transferases
Form conjugates to increase water solubility
- N-acetylation – NATs
- methylation – methyl transferases
Form conjugates to decrease nucleophilic reactivity
glutathione conjugates – GSTs
Form conjugates to eliminate reactivity and increase water solubility
Each drug may be metabolized via
one or more single or multi-step pathways
Which enzyme(s) are responsible for ”clearance” of a given drug depends on
the chemical structure of the drug
Common Path of Metabolism for Hydrophobic Drugs
nucleophile
- a chemical species or an atom within a molecule that has a tendency to donate a pair of electrons to another atom
- their electron-rich nature allows them to seek out and react with electron-deficient species
- Examples include negatively charged ions like hydroxide ions (OH-), chloride ions (Cl-), and cyanide ions (CN-)
Phase I reactions increase
water solubility to some extent
Phase II anionic conjugates dramatically increase
water solubility and lead to excretion
Predominant pathways for first metabolites depend on
key structural features
Phase I oxidations (CYP reactions) dominate in
the absence of polar nucleophiles