Lecture 6: Intro to Biotransformation, Pharmacogenomics, and Clinical Drug Trials Flashcards
What is the general strategy for eliminating compounds from the body?
Biotransformation of xenobiotics into more polar (and sometimes larger) and water soluble derivatives
Biotransformation may convert an inactive drug (pro-drug) to an active one, may lead to a product that is still active, or may inactivate a compound.
Provide an example of each.
-
Activation:
1) L-dopa (pro-drug) –> dopamine -
Active compound –> Active compound:
2) Diazepam –> Oxazepam -
Inactivation:
3) Acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) –> acetic acid + salicylate
T/F drugs that are given via parenteral routes of administration undergo first-pass biotransformation?
False
What is the classic example of a drug that undergoes extensive first-pass biotransformation?
- Morphine
- Bioavailability of oral preparations is roughly 25%; parenteral administration is preferred
What happens in the phase I reactions vs. phase II reactions?
Which phase is anabolic vs. catabolic?
Where does each phase occur and which is fastest?
Phase I: makes it inactive (oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis); catabolic; products are generally more reactive and toxic; enzymes located in the lipophilic ER membranes of liver
Phase II: conjugation making the substrate more water soluble and increases MW (anabolic); occurs faster than phase I rxns; takes place in liver
Phase I reactions are carried out by what 3 types of enzymes?
Mixed function oxidases (MFOs) or monooxygenases
1) CYP450s *primary phase I enzymes
2) Flavin-containing monooxygenases (FMO)
3) Epoxide hydrolases (mEH, sEH)
What is unique about the metabolism of isoniazid?
Phase II reaction occurs first (conjugation)
What are examples of phase II enzymes?
- UGT, GST, NAT (n-acetyltransferase)
- TPMT (thiopurine methyltransferase)
- SULT (sulfotransferase)
Which CYP is the most abundantly expressed and involved in the metabolism of about 50% of clinically used drugs?
CYP3A4
People with genetic defects in which enzyme can metabolize succinylcholine at 50% the rate of normal individuals?
Pseudocholinesterase
What is the slow acetylator phenotype?
Causes the slow metabolism of which compounds?
- AR trait w/ decrease in N-acetyltransferase levels in the liver
- Isoniazid, hydralazine, caffeine and other amines
Consumption of grapefruit juice with drugs taken orally can irreversibly inhibit what?
Intestinal CYP3A4
Which drug given with Mercaptopurine prolongs the duration of Mercaptopurines action and enhances its chemotherapeutic and toxic effects?
Why?
- Allopurinol by inhibiting xanthine oxidase
- Xanthine oxidase is a key enzyme in the biotransformation pathway of mercaptopurine
What is the most important factor accounting for decreased drug metabolism in elderly patients?
Liver and kidney disease
How does acetaminophen intake exceeding therapeutic dose lead to biotransformation into more toxic products and acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity?
- Hepatic GSH is depleted faster than regenerated
- Toxic metabolites accumulate resulting in hepatotoxicity
Levels of which drugs with flow-limited biotransformation may rise if given to patients with cardiac disease?
- Atenolol and propranolol (beta blockers)
- Isoniazid
- Lidocaine
- Morphine
- Verapamil
In vitro studies with a lead compound are used to study what?
Which type of cellular system is used?
- Factors involved in the drug’s actions (i.e., proteins the drug may bind to and/or the pathways it may inhibit or regulate)
- Helps establish the direct drug target or effects (pharmacologic profile) at the molecular and cellular levels
- Ideally tested in a cellular system that best represents the disease state the therapy is targeting
What is the No-effect dose?
- Maximum dose at which a specified toxic effect is not seen
- Lower than the threshold of harmful effect and is oftn estimated while establishing the threshold of harmful effect
Minimum lethal dose (LDmin) vs. Median lethal dose (LD50)?
- LDmin: the smallest dose that is observed to kill any experimental animal under a defined set of conditions
- LD50: the dose that kills approximately 50% of the animals
What are 3 limitations to preclinical testing?
1) Time and cost: 2-6 yrs may be required to collect and analyze animal toxicity profiles and estimate the therapeutic index
2) Number of animals used: cost associated w/ maintenance of a single mouse can be upwards of $400/year/cage
3) Extrapolation of values: toxicity and therapeutic values in animals often translate to humans, but many do not
What is a crossover design in human clinical trials?
- Patients receive each therapy in sequence so that the patients serve as their own controls
- They will receive both the drug and placebo at different times during the study
What is a single-blind vs. double-blind design in clinical trials?
- Single-blind: only the health professionals known the identity of the tx
- Double-blind: neither the pt nor the health professional knows the identity of the therapy
What is an Investigational new drug (IND)?
- Federal law requires that a drug be the subject of an approved marketing application before it is transported or distributed across state lines
- Submission of the IND is the means by which investigators technically obtain permission from the FDA to proceed w/ drug distribution
What is Phase 0 of a clinical trial and its advantages?
- Also termed microdosing; provide early pharmacokinetic data in humans and only require minimal preclinical toxicology safety testing
- Useful in situations where in vitro and animal models prove to be unreliable
- Also financially advantageous
What is Phase I of clinical trials, how many subjects involved, and what information is obtained?
- Determines whether humans and animals show significantly different response to the drug and establishing probably limits of the safe cllinial dosage range
- 25-50 volunteers
- Absorption, half-life, and metabolism are typical data reported