Imipramine (IMI) and desipramine (DMI) are tricyclic antidepressants that are widely used clinically. As shown in Fig. 1, IMI is oxidized by cytochrome P450 (CYP) mainly via two pathways: side-chain N-demethylation and aromatic ring 2-hydroxylation, forming DMI and 2-hydroxyimipramine (2-OH-IMI), respectively. 1) DMI and 2-OH-IMI further undergo 2-hydroxylation and N-demethylation, respectively, forming 2-hydroxy-DMI as the common metabolite (Fig. 1). In the human liver, CYP2D6 is mainly responsible for IMI 2-hydroxylation whereas CYP2C19 and CYP1A2 are involved in N-demethylation.
2,3)It has been reported that repeated administration of IMI to rats changed hepatic CYP-dependent monooxygenase activities. [4][5][6] We have also found that repetitive oral administration of IMI to rats caused a decrease in hepatic microsomal CYP2D-dependent reactions such as debrisoquine 4-hydroxylation, bunitrolol 4-hydroxylation, lidocaine 3-hydroxylation and propranolol 4-, 5-and 7-hydroxylations. 7) We have proposed that binding of a reactive metabolite of IMI to rat CYP2D enzyme(s) resulted in the decreased enzyme activities.7) As a possible mechanism, we speculated that an epoxy metabolite of IMI (1,2-or 2,3-epoxide) was involved in the inactivation of rat CYP2D enzyme(s). 7,8) If the epoxy metabolite(s) of IMI are responsible for the inactivation, DMI would also inactivate the rat CYP2D enzyme(s). Because several CYP2D enzymes are known to be expressed in the rat liver, 9) it is interesting to know what kind of CYP2D isoenzyme(s) are inhibited by IMI or DMI. Furthermore, there is a possibility that CYP2D6, a human functional CYP2D enzyme, is also inactivated by IMI and DMI in a similar manner. The present study was thus conducted to examine these possibilities using radiolabeled and unlabeled DMI and recombinant human and rat CYP2D enzymes. Sciences, Fukuoka University; 8-19-1 Nanakuma, Jonan-ku, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan. Received November 15, 2004; accepted January 13, 2005 Inhibitory effects of desipramine (DMI) on rat and human CYP2D enzymes were studied using bufuralol (BF) 1؆-hydroxylation as an index. Inhibition was examined under the following two conditions: 1) DMI was coincubated with BF and NADPH in the reaction mixture containing rat or human liver microsomes or yeast cell microsomes expressing rat CYP2D1, CYP2D2 or human CYP2D6 (co-incubation); 2) DMI was preincubated with NADPH and the same enzyme sources prior to adding the substrate (preincubation). When either rat liver microsomes or recombinant CYP2D2 was employed, the preincubation with DMI (0.3 m mM) caused a greater inhibition of BF 1؆-hydroxylation than the co-incubation did, whereas BF 1؆-hydroxylation by rat CYP2D1 was not markedly affected under the same conditions. The inhibitory effect of DMI on BF 1؆-hydroxylation by human liver microsomal fractions or recombinant CYP2D6 was much lower than that on the hydroxylation by rat liver microsomes or CYP2D2. Kinetic studies demonstrated that the inhibition-type changed from competitive for the co-incu...