Abstract

Disposition and biotransformation of the new antipsychotic agent olanzapine (OLZ) were studied in six male healthy volunteers after a single oral dose of 12.5 mg containing 100 μCi of [¹⁴C]OLZ. Biological fluids were analyzed for total radioactivity, the parent compound (GC/MS), and metabolites (electrospray LC/MS and LC/MS/MS). Mean radiocarbon recovery was ∼87%, with 30% appearing in the feces and 57% excreted in the urine. Approximately half of the radiocarbon was excreted within 3 days, whereas >70% of the dose was recovered within 7 days of dosing. Circulating radioactivity was mostly restricted to the plasma compartment of blood. Mean peak plasma concentration of OLZ was 11 ng/ml, whereas that of radioactivity was 39 ng eq/ml. Mean plasma terminal elimination half-lives were 27 and 59 hr, respectively, for OLZ and total radioactivity. With the help of NMR and MS data, a major metabolite of OLZ in humans was characterized as a novel tertiaryN-glucuronide in which the glucuronic acid moiety is attached to the nitrogen at position 10 of the benzodiazepine ring. Another N-glucuronide was detected in urine and identified as the quaternary N-linked 4′-N-glucuronide. Oxidative metabolism on the allylic methyl group resulted in 2-hydroxymethyl and 2-carboxylic acid derivatives of OLZ. The methyl piperazine moiety was also subject to oxidative attack, giving rise to the N-oxide and N-desmethyl metabolites. Other metabolites, including the N-desmethyl-2-carboxy derivative, resulted from metabolic reactions at both the 4′ nitrogen and 2-methyl groups. The 10-N-glucuronide and OLZ were the two most abundant urinary components, accounting for ∼13% and 7% of the dose, respectively. In fecal extracts, the only significant radioactive HPLC peaks were due to 10-N-glucuronide and OLZ representing, respectively, ∼8% and 2% of the administered dose. Semiquantitative data obtained from plasma samples from subjects given [¹⁴C]OLZ suggest that the main circulating metabolite is 10-N-glucuronide. Thus, OLZ was extensively metabolized in humans via N-glucuronidation, allylic hydroxylation,N-oxidation, N-dealkylation and a combination thereof. The 10-N-glucuronidation pathway was the most important pathway both in terms of contribution to drug-related circulating species and as an excretory product in feces and urine.