Species Differences in the Biotransformation of an α4β2 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Partial Agonist: The Effects of Distinct Glucuronide Metabolites on Overall Compound Disposition

Abstract

The metabolism and disposition of (1R,5S)-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-7-(trifluoromethyl)-1,5-methano-1H-3-benzazepine (1), an α₄β₂ nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist, was investigated in Sprague-Dawley rats and cynomolgus monkeys receiving (1R,5S)-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-7-(trifluoromethyl)-1,5-methano-1H-4[¹⁴C]-3- benzazepine hydrochloride ([¹⁴C]1) orally. Although both species chiefly (≥62%) cleared 1 metabolically, species-specific dispositional profiles were observed for both 1 and total radioactivity. Radioactivity was excreted equally in the urine and feces of intact rats but largely (72%) in bile in bile duct-cannulated animals. In monkeys, radioactivity recoveries were 50-fold greater in urine than feces and minimal (N-carbamoyl glucuronide (M6), exclusively present in bile (69% of dose), whereas in monkeys it afforded an N-O-glucuronide (M5), a minor biliary component (4%) but the major plasma (62%) and urinary (42%) entity. In rats, first-pass hepatic conversion of 1 to M6, which was confirmed in rat hepatocytes, and its biliary secretion resulted in the indirect enterohepatic cycling of 1 via M6 and manifested in double-humped plasma concentration-time curves and long t_1/2 for both 1 and total radioactivity. In monkeys, in which only M5 was formed, double-humped plasma concentration-time curves were absent, and moderate t_1/2 for both 1 and total radioactivity were observed. A seemingly subtle, yet critical, difference in the chemical structures of these two glucuronide metabolites considerably affected the overall disposition of 1 in rats versus monkeys.