RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Functional Characterization of CYP2B6 Allelic Variants in Demethylation of Anti-Malarial Artemether JF Drug Metabolism and Disposition JO Drug Metab Dispos FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics SP dmd.111.040352 DO 10.1124/dmd.111.040352 A1 Masashi Honda A1 Yuka Muroi A1 Yuichiro Tamaki A1 Daisuke Saigusa A1 Naoto Suzuki A1 Yoshihisa Tomioka A1 Yoichi Matsubara A1 Akifumi Oda A1 Noriyasu Hirasawa A1 Masahiro Hiratsuka YR 2011 UL http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/early/2011/07/11/dmd.111.040352.abstract AB Artemether (AM) is one of the most effective anti-malarial drugs. The elimination half-life of AM is very short and it shows large interindividual variability in pharmacokinetic parameters. The aim of this study was to identify cytochrome P450 (CYP) isozymes responsible for the demethylation of AM, and to evaluate functional differences between 26 CYP2B6 allelic variants in vitro. Of 14 recombinant CYPs examined in this study, CYP2B6 and CYP3A4 were primarily responsible for production of the desmethyl metabolite dihydroartemisinin. The intrinsic clearance ( Vmax / Km) of CYP2B6 was 6-fold higher than that of CYP3A4. AM demethylation by human liver microsomes was more closely correlated to immunoquantified CYP2B6 protein content (r2 = 0.548) than CYP3A4 protein content (r2 = 0.109). Wild-type CYP2B6.1 and 25 CYP2B6 allelic variants (CYP2B6.2-CYP2B6.21 and CYP2B6.23-CYP2B6.27) were heterologously expressed in COS-7 cells. In vitro analysis revealed no enzymatic activity in 5 variants (CYP2B6.8, CYP2B6.12, CYP2B6.18, CYP2B6.21, and CYP2B6.24), lower activity in 7 variants (CYP2B6.10, CYP2B6.11, CYP2B6.14, CYP2B6.15, CYP2B6.16, CYP2B6.20, and CYP2B6.27), and higher activity in 4 variants (CYP2B6.2, CYP2B6.4, CYP2B6.6, and CYP2B6.19), compared to wild-type CYP2B6.1. In kinetic analysis, 3 variants (CYP2B6.2, CYP2B6.4, and CYP2B6.6) exhibited significantly higher Vmax, and 3 variants (CYP2B6.14, CYP2B6.20 and CYP2B6.27) exhibited significantly lower Vmax, compared with CYP2B6.1. This functional analysis of CYP2B6 variants could provide useful information for individualization of anti-malarial drug therapy.