Makiko Shimizu

Cynomolgus monkeys are widely used in drug developmental stages as non-human primate models. Previous studies used 89 compounds to investigate species differences associated with cytochrome P450 (P450 or CYP) function that reported monkey specific CYP2C76 cleared 19 chemicals, and homologous CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 metabolized 17 and 30 human CYP2C9 and/or CYP2C19 substrates, respectively. In the present study, 22 compounds selected from viewpoints of global drug interaction guidances and guidelines were further evaluated to seek potential substrates for monkey CYP2C8, which is highly homologous to human CYP2C8 (92%). Amodiaquine, montelukast, quercetin, and rosiglitazone, known as substrates or competitive inhibitors of human CYP2C8, were metabolically depleted by recombinant monkey CYP2C8 at relatively high rates. Taken together with our reported findings of slow eliminations of amodiaquine and montelukast by monkey CYP2C9, CYP2C19, and CYP2C76, the present results suggest that these at least four chemicals may be good marker substrates for monkey CYP2C8. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The microminipig is one of the smallest minipigs that has emerged as a possible experimental animal model, because it shares many anatomical and/or physiological similarities with humans, including the coronary artery distribution in the heart, the digestive physiology, the kidney size and its structure, and so on. However, information on gene expression profiles, including those on drug-metabolizing phase I and II enzymes, in the microminipig is limited. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to identify transcripts in microminipig livers and to determine gene expression profiles. De novo assembly and expression analyses of microminipig transcripts were conducted with liver samples from three male and three female microminipigs using parallel long-read and short-read sequencing technologies. After unique sequences had been automatically aligned by assembling software, the mean contig length of 50843 transcripts was 707 bp. The expression profiles of cytochrome P450 (P450) 1A2, 2C, 2E1 and 3A genes in livers in microminipigs were similar to those in humans. Liver carboxylesterase (CES) precursor, liver CES-like, UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 2C1-like, amine sulfotransferase (SULT)-like, N-acetyltransferases (NAT8) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) A2 genes, which are relatively unknown genes in pigs and/or humans, were expressed strongly. Furthermore, no significant gender differences were observed in the gene expression profiles of phase I enzymes, whereas UGT2B17, SULT1E1, SULT2A1, amine SULT-like, NAT8 and GSTT4 genes were different between males and females among phase II enzyme genes under the present sample conditions. These results provide a foundation for mechanistic studies and the use of microminipigs as model animals for drug development in the future. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

1. The pharmacokinetic data of cytochrome P450 probes in humans can be extrapolated from corresponding data in cynomolgus monkeys, dogs and minipigs using simplified physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling. In this study, the modeling methodology was further adapted to estimate human plasma concentrations of P450 probes based on data from mice transplanted with human hepatocytes or based on data from marmosets. 2. Using known species allometric scaling factors, the observed plasma concentrations of caffeine, warfarin, omeprazole, metoprolol, and midazolam in chimeric TK-NOG mice with humanized liver were scaled to human oral monitoring equivalents. Using the same approach, the previously reported pharmacokinetics of the five P450 probes in marmosets were also scaled to reported equivalents in humans using in vitro metabolic clearance data. 3. Human plasma concentration profiles of the five P450 probes estimated by simplified human PBPK models based on the observed pharmacokinetics in mice with humanized liver and on the reported pharmacokinetics in marmosets were consistent with previously published pharmacokinetic data in Caucasians. 4. These results suggest that mice with humanized liver and/or marmosets could be suitable pharmacokinetic models for humans during research into new drugs, especially when used in combination with simple PBPK models.

1. Cynomolgus monkeys are widely used in preclinical studies as non-human primate species. Pharmacokinetics of human cytochrome P450 probes determined in cynomolgus monkeys after single oral or intravenous administrations were extrapolated to give human plasma concentrations. 2. Plasma concentrations of slowly eliminated caffeine and R-/S-warfarin and rapidly eliminated omeprazole and midazolam previously observed in cynomolgus monkeys were scaled to human oral biomonitoring equivalents using known species allometric scaling factors and in vitro metabolic clearance data with a simple physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model. Results of the simplified human PBPK models were consistent with reported experimental PK data in humans or with values simulated by a fully constructed population-based simulator (Simcyp). 3. Oral administrations of metoprolol and dextromethorphan (human P450 2D probes) in monkeys reportedly yielded plasma concentrations similar to their quantitative detection limits. Consequently, ratios of in vitro hepatic intrinsic clearances of metoprolol and dextromethorphan determined in monkeys and humans were used with simplified PBPK models to extrapolate intravenous PK in monkeys to oral PK in humans. 4. These results suggest that cynomolgus monkeys, despite their rapid clearance of some human P450 substrates, could be a suitable model for humans, especially when used in conjunction with simple PBPK models.

The present study defined a simplified physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model for nicotine and its primary metabolite cotinine in humans, based on metabolic parameters determined in vitro using relevant liver microsomes, coefficients derived in silico, physiological parameters derived from the literature, and an established rat PBPK model. The model consists of an absorption compartment, a metabolizing compartment, and a central compartment for nicotine and three equivalent compartments for cotinine. Evaluation of a rat model was performed by making comparisons with predicted concentrations in blood and in vivo experimental pharmacokinetic values obtained from rats after oral treatment with nicotine (1.0 mg/kg, a no-observed-adverse-effect level) for 14 days. Elimination rates of nicotine in vitro were established from data from rat liver microsomes and from human pooled liver microsomes. Human biomonitoring data (17 ng nicotine and 150 ng cotinine per mL plasma 1 h after smoking) from pooled five male Japanese smokers (daily intake of 43 mg nicotine by smoking) revealed that these blood concentrations could be calculated using a human PBPK model. These results indicate that a simplified PBPK model for nicotine/cotinine is useful for a forward dosimetry approach in humans and for estimating blood concentrations of other related compounds resulting from exposure to low chemical doses.

Human biomonitoring of plasma and urinary levels of nicotine, cotinine, and 3′-hydroxycotinine was conducted after daily cigarette smoking in a population of 92 male Japanese smokers with a mean age of 37 years who had smoked an average of 23 cigarettes per day for 16 years. Members of the population were genotyped for the nicotine-metabolizing enzyme cytochrome P450 2A6 (CYP2A6). The mean levels of nicotine, the levels of its metabolites cotinine and 3′-hydroxycotinine, and the sum of these three levels in subjects one hour after smoking the first cigarette on the sampling day were 20.1, 158, 27.7, and 198 ng/mL in plasma and 846, 1,020, 1,010, and 2,870 ng/mL in urine under daily smoking conditions. Plasma levels of 3'-hydroxycotinine and urinary levels of nicotine and 3′-hydroxycotinine were dependent on the CYP2A6 phenotype group, which was estimated from the CYP2A6 genotypes of the subjects, including those with whole gene deletion. Plasma cotinine levels were significantly correlated with the number of cigarettes smoked on the day before sampling (r = 0.71), the average number of cigarettes smoked daily (r = 0.58), and the Brinkman index (daily cigarettes × years, r = 0.48) under the present conditions. The sum of nicotine, cotinine, and 3′-hydroxycotinine concentrations in plasma showed a similar relationship to that of the plasma cotinine levels. Urinary concentrations of cotinine and the sum of nicotine metabolite concentrations also showed significant correlations with the plasma levels and the previous day’s and average cigarette consumption. The numbers of cigarettes smoked per day by two subjects with self-reported light smoking habits were predicted by measuring the urinary cotinine concentrations and using linear regression equations derived from above-mentioned data. These results indicate that biomonitoring of the urinary cotinine concentration is a good, easy-to-use marker for plasma levels of cotinine and the sum of nicotine metabolites in smokers independent of genetic polymorphism of CYP2A6.

Individual differences of drug-metabolizing enzymes are important determinants for the metabolic fate of chemicals. This article focuses on polymorphic human flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 (FMO3) and dietary-derived trimethylamine. Malodorous trimethylamine is generally converted to odorless trimethylamine N-oxide by liver microsomal FMO3. Trimethylaminuria is caused by functional disorder of FMO3. In this study mutations of the FMO3 gene were examined in self-reported Japanese trimethylaminuria subjects that showed low FMO3 metabolic capacity in urine tests. Nine novel polymorphisms in the FMO3 gene were discovered in self-reported Japanese volunteers. Functional analyses of recombinant FMO3 proteins suggested that these FMO3 gene mutations were one of the causal factors for decreased FMO3 function resulting in trimethylaminuria. Inter-individual variations of FMO3-mediated microsomal oxygenation activities, levels of FMO3 protein and FMO3 mRNA, and its modification in liver microsomes from Japanese samples were observed. Both genetic polymorphisms in the 5'-upstream of the FMO3 gene and some hormonal changes related to menstruation may be causal factors for inter- and/or intra- individual expression levels of FMO3. To assess the palliative cares, it was found that absorbed levels of trimethylamine in vivo would be possibly controlled by selection of precursor foods like fish containing a variety of trimethylamine amounts. These lines of evidence suggest that individual differences of FMO3 are important determinants for the metabolic fate of dietary-derived trimethylamine.

Background: Trimethylaminuria, or fish odor syndrome, includes a transient or mild malodor caused by an excessive amount of malodorous trimethylamine as a result of body secretions. Herein, we describe data to support the proposal that menses can be an additional factor causing transient trimethylaminuria in self-reported subjects suffering from malodor and even in healthy women harboring functionally active flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 (FMO3). Methods: FMO3 metabolic capacity (conversion of trimethylamine to trimethylamine N-oxide) was defined as the urinary ratio of trimethylamine N-oxide to total trimethylamine. Results: Self-reported Case (A) that was homozygous for inactive Arg500stop FMO3, showed decreased metabolic capacity of FMO3 (i.e., ~10% the unaffected metabolic capacity) during 120 days of observation. For Case (B) that was homozygous for common [Glu158Lys; Glu308Gly] FMO3 polymorphisms, metabolic capacity of FMO3 was almost ~90%, except for a few days surrounding menstruation showing < 40% metabolic capacity. In comparison, three healthy control subjects that harbored heterozygous polymorphisms for [Glu158Lys; Glu308Gly] FMO3 or homozygous for wild FMO3 showed normal (> 90%) metabolic capacity, however, on days around menstruation the FMO3 metabolic capacity was decreased to ~60–70%. Conclusion: Together, these results indicate that abnormal FMO3 capacity is caused by menstruation particularly in the presence, in homozygous form, of mild genetic variants such as [Glu158Lys; Glu308Gly] that cause a reduced FMO3 function.

Cyclosporine (CyA) is the most commonly used immunosuppressive agent in patients who undergo kidney transplantation. Dosage adjustment of CyA is usually based on trough levels. Recently, trough levels have been replacing the area under the concentration-time curve during the first 4 h after CyA administration (AUC(0-4)). The aim of this study was to compare the predictive values obtained using three different methods of AUC(0-4) monitoring. AUC(0-4) was calculated from 0 to 4 h in early and stable renal transplant patients using the trapezoidal rule. The predicted AUC(0-4) was calculated using three different methods: the multiple regression equation reported by Uchida et al.; Bayesian estimation for modified population pharmacokinetic parameters reported by Yoshida et al.; and modified population pharmacokinetic parameters reported by Cremers et al. The predicted AUC(0-4) was assessed on the basis of predictive bias, precision, and correlation coefficient. The predicted AUC(0-4) values obtained using three methods through measurement of three blood samples showed small differences in predictive bias, precision, and correlation coefficient. In the prediction of AUC(0-4) measurement of one blood sample from stable renal transplant patients, the performance of the regression equation reported by Uchida depended on sampling time. On the other hand, the performance of Bayesian estimation with modified pharmacokinetic parameters reported by Yoshida through measurement of one blood sample, which is not dependent on sampling time, showed a small difference in the correlation coefficient. The prediction of AUC(0-4) using a regression equation required accurate sampling time. In this study, the prediction of AUC(0-4) using Bayesian estimation did not require accurate sampling time in the AUC(0-4) monitoring of CyA. Thus Bayesian estimation is assumed to be clinically useful in the dosage adjustment of CyA.