Abstract

Omeprazole 5-hydroxylation and sulfoxidation activities were determined in liver microsomes of different humans whose levels of individual forms of cytochrome P450 (P450 or CYP) varied. Correlation coefficients between omeprazole 5-hydroxylation activities (when determined at a substrate concentration of 10 μM) and S-mephenytoin 4′-hydroxylation and testosterone 6β-hydroxylation activities were found to be 0.64 and 0.67, respectively, in liver microsomes of 84 human samples examined. Omeprazole sulfoxidation activities in these human samples were correlated with testosterone 6β-hydroxylation activities (r = 0.86). Omeprazole 5-hydroxylation by liver microsomes of a human sample that contained relatively high levels of CYP3A4 and low levels of CYP2C19 were inhibited very significantly by ketoconazole and anti-CYP3A4 antibodies, although a human sample having high in CYP2C19 and low in CYP3A4 was found to be sensitive toward fluvoxamine and anti-CYP2C9 antibodies. Sulfaphenazole (at 100 μM) did not affect the omeprazole 5-hydroxylation and sulfoxidation catalyzed by human liver microsomes. Both recombinant human CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 enzymes had activities for omeprazole 5-hydroxylation, with low K_m and highV_max values for the former enzyme and highK_m and low V_maxvalues for the CYP3A4. These results suggest that contributions of CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 in the omeprazole 5-hydroxylation depend upon the ratio of these two P450 levels in human liver microsomes. Omeprazole 5-hydroxylation activities of different human samples were found to be related to predicted values calculated from the kinetic parameters of recombinant enzymes and the levels of liver microsomal CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 enzymes. Finally, when recombinant human CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 were mixed at levels found in different human samples, relatively similar profiles of omeprazole oxidation by the recombinant and microsomal enzyme systems were determined by analysis of high-performance liquid chromatography. These results suggest that both CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 are involved in the 5-oxidation of omeprazole (at a substrate concentration of 10 μM) in human liver microsomes and that contributions of these P450 enzymes depend on the compositions of CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 in liver.