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Published on: November 15, 2013
Effects of ketoconazole on glucuronidation by UDP-glucuronosyltransferase enzymes
Wei Peng Yong1, Jacqueline Ramirez, Federico Innocenti
1Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics, The University of Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Purpose:
Ketoconazole has been shown to inhibit the glucuronidation of the UGT2B7 substrates zidovudine and lorazepam. Its effect on UGT1A substrates is unclear. A recent study found that coadministration of irinotecan and ketoconazole led to a significant increase in the formation of SN-38 (7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecine), an UGT1A substrate. This study investigates whether ketoconazole contributes to the increase in SN-38 formation by inhibiting SN-38 glucuronidation.
Experimental Design:
SN-38 glucuronidation activities were determined by measuring the rate of SN-38 glucuronide (SN-38G) formation using pooled human liver microsomes and cDNA-expressed UGT1A isoforms (1A1, 1A7 and 1A9) in the presence of ketoconazole. Indinavir, a known UGT1A1 inhibitor, was used as a positive control. SN-38G formation was measured by high-performance liquid chromatograph.
Results:
Ketoconazole competitively inhibited SN-38 glucuronidation. Among the UGT1A isoforms screened, ketoconazole showed the highest inhibitory effect on UGT1A1 and UGT1A9. The K(i) values were 3.3 +/- 0.8 micromol/L for UGT1A1 and 31.9 +/- 3.3 micromol/L for UGT1A9.
Conclusions:
These results show that ketoconazole is a potent UGT1A1 inhibitor, which seems the basis for increased exposure to SN-38 when coadministered with irinotecan.
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