Metabolic deesterification of tazarotene in human blood and rat and human liver microsomes

Tazarotene is a novel acetylenic retinoid for the treatment of psoriasis and acne. We examined (1) the hydrolysis of tazarotene in blood from Japanese-American and Caucasian subjects, (2) the esterases responsible for this hydrolysis in human blood, and (3) tazarotene hydrolysis in rat and human liver microsomes. Tazarotene hydrolysis and enzyme inhibition were assessed by monitoring the disappearance of tazarotene and the appearance of its primary metabolite tazarotenic acid by HPLC. In blood, tazarotene was converted mainly to tazarotenic acid via first-order kinetics, and there was no statistically significant difference in the hydrolytic (metabolic) rate of tazarotene in uninhibited Japanese-American and Caucasian blood. Physostigmine (a cholinesterase inhibitor), bis(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate (a carboxylesterase inhibitor), and EDTA (an aromatic esterase inhibitor) did not significantly affect tazarotene hydrolysis in blood. Paraoxon, an inhibitor of all serine esterases including cholinesterase and carboxylesterase, decreased the hydrolysis of tazarotene to tazarotenic acid by 95% in both blood and liver microsomes. In conclusion, blood and liver esterases play a significant role in the hydrolysis of tazarotene to tazarotenic acid, and paraoxon-inhibitable forms of esterases are involved in this hydrolysis in humans.