TY - JOUR T1 - A Mechanistic Approach to Understanding Species Differences in Felbamate Bioactivation: Relevance to Drug-Induced Idiosyncratic Reactions JF - Drug Metabolism and Disposition JO - Drug Metab Dispos SP - 814 LP - 822 VL - 28 IS - 7 AU - Christine M. Dieckhaus AU - Thomas A. Miller AU - R. Duane Sofia AU - Timothy L. Macdonald Y1 - 2000/07/01 UR - http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/28/7/814.abstract N2 - In an attempt to understand the species-selective toxicity of felbamate (2-phenyl-1,3-propanediol dicarbamate, FBM), which is thought to result from bioactivation to 2-phenylpropenal, FBM metabolism was evaluated in rats and humans. The formation of 2-phenylpropenal was monitored by the amount of its mercapturates excreted in urine. The data show a relative 5-fold increase in mercapturate excretion in patient urine as a result of differences in metabolism through P450-, esterase-, and aldehyde dehydrogenase-mediated pathways. To compensate for the significant species differences in FBM metabolism, and to produce toxic levels of 2-phenylpropenal in rat comparable to humans levels, monocarbamate felbamate (2-phenyl-1,3-propanediol monocarbamate, MCF), was administered to rats in the hopes of eliciting a toxic response. The desired result, an increase in mercapturate excretion, was not observed in MCF-treated rats due to the identification of a new FBM metabolite, 2-phenyl-1,3-propanediol monocarbamate-α-d-glucuronic acid (MCF-glucuronide). Formation of MCF-glucuronide is significant and represents about 80% of MCF metabolites in MCF-dosed rats, 3% of FBM metabolites in FBM-dosed rats, and about 11% of FBM metabolites in FBM patients. To overcome the protective effect of glucuronidation, uridine diphosphoglucuronosyltransferase (UGT)-deficient Gunn rats were treated with FBM and MCF, which surprisingly had no effect on the amount of MCF-glucuronide formed. Given the known UGT polymorphisms and the fact that MCF glucuronidation contributes to the elimination of a 2-phenylpropenal precursor, the correlation between poor UGT activity and an increase in mercapturates excretion was evaluated in patients. The result of the first 34 patients screened suggests that a patient with poor UGT activity is not necessarily at risk for FBM toxicity. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics ER -