Abstract
The potency of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) as a mechanism-based inhibitor of CYP2D6 has been defined using microsomes prepared from yeast expressing the enzyme and from three human livers. The inhibitory effect was increased by preincubation through formation of a metabolic intermediate complex. Inactivation parameters (kinact and KI), defined with respect to the O-demethylation of dextromethorphan, were 0.29 ± 0.03 (S.E.) min-1 and 12.9 ± 3.6 (S.E.) μM for yeast-expressed CYP2D6, and 0.26 ± 0.02 min-1 and 14.4 ± 2.5 μM, 0.15 ± 0.01 min-1 and 8.8 ± 2.6 μM, and 0.12 ± 0.05 min-1 and 45.3 ± 32.1 μM for the liver microsomal preparations. The rate of inactivation of CYP2D6 by MDMA decreased when quinidine, a competitive inhibitor of CYP2D6, was added to the primary incubation mixture. However, inactivation was unaffected by the addition of glutathione. The results indicate that MDMA is a potent mechanism-based inhibitor of CYP2D6, with implications for understanding its in vivo disposition and drug interaction potential.
Footnotes
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A.H. was in receipt of a scholarship supported by the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education. This work was presented, in part, at the British Association for Psychopharmacology Meeting in Cambridge, UK, 20–23 July 2003.
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Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at http://dmd.aspetjournals.org.
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doi:10.1124/dmd.104.001180.
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ABBREVIATIONS: MDMA, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; G6P, glucose 6-phosphate; MIC, metabolic intermediate complex; EM, extensive metabolizer with respect to CYP2D6; P450, cytochrome P450; HPLC, high-performance liquid chromatography.
- Received June 25, 2004.
- Accepted August 20, 2004.
- The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics