Abstract
Verlukast, (S)3-((((3-(2-(7-chloroquinolin-2-yl)-(E)-ethenyl)phenyl)- 3-dimethylamino-3-oxopropylthio)methyl)thio)propionic acid, formerly known as MK-679, is a potent leukotriene D4 antagonist. Verlukast was incubated with rat liver microsomes under oxidative conditions to generate five metabolites, which were identified as the four possible isomeric monosulfoxides (M1-M4), and the N-hydroxymethyl amide (M5). This latter metabolite loses the elements of formaldehyde to yield the N-monomethyl amide (M6). These metabolites were isolated from a large microsomal incubation and were characterized by UV, 1H-NMR, and fast atom bombardment-MS. These data were identical to those obtained from synthetically prepared standards. Microsomal incubations of verlukast supplemented with UDP-glucuronic acid yielded the acyl glucuronide metabolite (M7), which was isolated and characterized by UV, 1H-NMR, and fast atom bombardment-M5. Verlukast was regenerated from M7 upon treatment with either beta-glucuronidase or strong aqueous base (pH greater than 11). The metabolites described above were all detected in bile collected from a rat dosed with verlukast.