Diazepam metabolism in cultured hepatocytes from rat, rabbit, dog, guinea pig, and man

Diazepam metabolism has been investigated in cultured hepatocytes from rat, rabbit, dog, guinea pig, and man. The metabolite profile obtained by HPLC analysis of the culture medium indicated that substantial differences exist corresponding to known species differences in the metabolite profile of diazepam in vivo. These differences were attributed to a combination of the rate at which a metabolite was formed and the rate at which it is removed from the medium by further metabolism. The intrinsic clearance of nordiazepam in hepatocytes from each of the species exhibited the most marked species variation (rat much greater than guinea pig greater than rabbit greater than human greater than dog). Species that exhibited a high intrinsic clearance for nordiazepam were also those species that exhibited significant hydroxylation at the 4'-site of the molecule. The disappearance of diazepam was rapid in rat, dog, and guinea pig hepatocytes, but slow in human hepatocytes. Moreover, rat and human hepatocytes exhibited different saturability of diazepam clearance with respect to diazepam concentration accounting, at least in part, for the different rates of diazepam metabolism in the different species. These results support the value of hepatocytes in drug metabolism studies and especially in studies of species differences in metabolism.