Abstract

Cryopreserved human hepatocytes and other in vitro systems often underpredict in vivo intrinsic clearance (CL_int). The aim of this study was to explore the potential utility of HepG2 cells transduced with adenovirus vectors expressing a single cytochrome P450 enzyme (Ad-CYP1A2, Ad-CYP2C9, or Ad-CYP3A4) for metabolic clearance predictions. The kinetics of metabolite formation from phenacetin, tolbutamide, and alprazolam and midazolam, selected as substrates probes for CYP1A2, CYP2C9, and CYP3A4, respectively, were characterized in this in vitro system. The magnitude of the K_m or S₅₀ values observed in Ad-P450 cells was similar to those found in the literature for other human liver-derived systems. For each substrate, CL_int (or CL_max), values from Ad-P450 systems were scaled to human hepatocytes in primary culture using the relative activity factor (RAF) approach. Scaled Ad-P450 CL_int values were approximately 3- to 6-fold higher (for phenacetin O-deethylation, tolbutamide 4-hydroxylation, and alprazolam 4-hydroxyaltion) or lower (midazolam 1′-hydroxylation) than those reported for human cryopreserved hepatocytes in suspension. Comparison with the in vivo data reveals that Ad-P450 cells provide a favorable prediction of CL_int for the substrates studied (in a range of 20–200% in vivo observed CL_int). This is an improvement compared with the consistent underpredictions (<10–50% in in vivo observed CL_int) found in cryopreserved hepatocyte studies with the same substrates. These results suggest that the Ad-P450 cell is a promising in vitro system for clearance predictions of P450-metabolized drugs.