Metabolism of the antimalarial endoperoxide Ro 42-1611 (arteflene) in the rat: evidence for endoperoxide bioactivation.

Ro 42-1611 (arteflene) is a synthetic endoperoxide antimalarial. The antimalarial activity of endoperoxides is attributed to iron(II)-mediated generation of carbon-centered radicals. An alpha, beta-unsaturated ketone (enone; 4-[2',4' bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-3-buten-2-one), obtained from arteflene by reaction with iron(II), was identified previously as the stable product of a reaction that, by inference, also yields a cyclohexyl radical. The activation of arteflene in vivo has been characterized with particular reference to enone formation. [14C]Arteflene (35 micromol/kg) was given i.v. to anesthetized and cannulated male rats: 42.2 +/- 7.0% (mean +/- S.D., n = 7) of the radiolabel was recovered in bile over 5 h. In the majority of rats, the principal biliary metabolites were 8-hydroxyarteflene glucuronide (14.2 +/- 3. 9% dose, 0-3 h) and the cis and trans isomers of the enone (13.5 +/- 4.6% dose, 0-3 h). In conscious rats, 15.3 +/- 1.6% (mean +/- S.D., n = 8) of the radiolabel was recovered in urine over 24 h. The principal urinary metabolite appeared to be a glycine conjugate of a derivative of the enone. Biliary excretion of the glucuronide, but not of the enones, was inhibited by ketoconazole. 8-Hydroxyarteflene was formed extensively by rat and human liver microsomes but no enone was found. Bioactivation is a major pathway of arteflene's metabolism in the rat. Although the mechanism of in vivo bioactivation is unclear, the reaction is not catalyzed by microsomal cytochrome P-450 enzymes.