TY - JOUR T1 - Evaluation of Ketoconazole and its Alternative Clinical CYP3A4/5 Inhibitors as Inhibitors of Drug Transporters: The In Vitro Effects of Ketoconazole, Ritonavir, Clarithromycin and Itraconazole on 13 Clinically-Relevant Drug Transporters JF - Drug Metabolism and Disposition JO - Drug Metab Dispos DO - 10.1124/dmd.115.067744 SP - dmd.115.067744 AU - Lydia M.M. Vermeer AU - Caleb D. Isringhausen AU - Brian W. Ogilvie AU - David B. Buckley Y1 - 2015/01/01 UR - http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/early/2015/12/14/dmd.115.067744.abstract N2 - Ketoconazole is a potent CYP3A4/5 inhibitor, and until recently, recommended by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) as a "strong" CYP3A4/5 inhibitor in clinical drug-drug interaction (DDI) studies. Ketoconazole sporadically causes liver injury or adrenal insufficiency. Because of this, the FDA and EMA recommended suspension of ketoconazole use in DDI studies in 2013. FDA specifically recommended use of clarithromycin or itraconazole as alternative strong CYP3A4/5 inhibitors for use in clinical DDI studies, but many investigators have also used ritonavir as an alternative. Although the effects of these clinical CYP3A4/5 inhibitors on other CYPs are largely established, reports on the effects on the broad range of drug transporter activities are sparse. In this study, the inhibitory effects of ketoconazole, clarithromycin, ritonavir and itraconazole (and its CYP3A4-inhibitory metabolites, hydroxy-, keto- and N-desalkyl itraconazole) towards 13 drug transporters (OATP1B1, OATP1B3, OAT1, OAT3, OCT1, OCT2, MATE1, MATE2-K, P-gp, BCRP, MRP2, MRP3 and BSEP) were systematically assessed in transporter-expressing HEK-293 cell lines or membrane vesicles. In vitro findings were translated into clinical context with the basic static model approaches outlined by the FDA in their 2012 draft guidance on DDIs. The results indicate that, like ketoconazole, the alternative clinical CYP3A4/5 inhibitors ritonavir, clarithromycin and itraconazole each have unique transporter inhibition profiles. None of the alternatives to ketoconazole provided a clean inhibition profile towards the 13 drug transporters evaluated. The results provide guidance for the selection of clinical CYP3A4/5 inhibitors when transporters are potentially involved in a victim drug's pharmacokinetics. ER -